Optical whispering-gallery-mode microresonators with ultrahigh quality factors and small mode volumes have played an important role in modern physics. They have been demonstrated as a diverse platform for a wide range of applications in photonics, such as nonlinear optics, optomechanics, quantum optics, and information processing. Thermal behaviors induced by power build-up in the resonators or environmental perturbations are ubiquitous in high-quality-factor whispering-gallery-mode resonators and have played an important role in their operation for various applications. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of laser-field-induced thermal nonlinear effects, including thermal bistability and thermal oscillation. With the help of the thermal bistability effect, optothermal spectroscopy and optical nonreciprocity have been demonstrated. By tuning the temperature of the environment, the resonant mode frequency will shift, which can also be used for thermal sensing/tuning applications. The thermal locking technique and thermal imaging mechanisms are discussed briefly. Finally, we review some techniques employed to achieve thermal stability in a high-quality-factor resonator system.

具有超高品质因数和小模式体积的光学耳语画廊模式微谐振器在现代物理学中发挥了重要作用。它们已被证明是用于光子学中广泛应用的多样化平台，例如非线性光学，光力学，量子光学和信息处理。由谐振器中的功率积累或环境扰动引起的热行为在高品质因子耳语画廊模式谐振器中无处不在，并且在各种应用的操作中发挥了重要作用。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了激光场引起的热非线性效应的机制，包括热双稳态和热振荡。借助于热双稳态效应，已经证明了光热光谱法和光学不可逆性。通过调节环境温度，谐振模式频率将发生偏移，这也可以用于热感测/调谐应用。简要讨论了热锁定技术和热成像机制。最后，我们回顾了用于在高质量因子谐振器系统中实现热稳定性的一些技术。