Fiber-based free-space optical coherent receiver with vibration compensation mechanism

We propose a novel fiber-based free-space optical (FSO) coherent receiver for inter-satellite communication. The receiver takes advantage of established fiber-optic components and utilizes the fine-pointing subsystem installed in FSO terminals to minimize the influence of satellite platform vibrations. The received beam is coupled to a single-mode fiber, and the coupling efficiency of the system is investigated both analytically and experimentally. A receiving sensitivity of −38 dBm is obtained at the forward error correction limit with a transmission rate of 22.4 Gbit/s. The proposed receiver is shown to be a promising component for inter-satellite optical communication.