Development of Reconfigurable Plasma Column Antenna

Abstract

The work presented in this article evaluates the radiation characteristic of the plasma antenna in its classical state called plasma striation. The plasma antenna is basically a plasma column coupled with an RF signal source. The experimental setup of the plasma antenna has been developed, which includes a plasma and vacuum system, the RF signal source along with the matching network, and an automated radiation measurement system to measure the radiation parameters. The radiation characteristics of the plasma antenna depend on the plasma properties, such as plasma length and plasma density, which are the functions of input RF power and gas pressure. In a column, a single length plasma can be transformed into multiple small striations or blobs by having a critical combination of applied power and pressure. In this experiment, radiation patterns of antenna have been measured for the variable plasma parameters and tuned frequencies. The study reveals that the typical arrangement of blobs forms a collinear plasma antenna array, where the radiation parameters can be reconfigured with the size, number, and spacing between blobs and plasma density. The study outcomes the present useful development in the area of reconfigurable RF antenna that is a research interest in the field of radar for beamsteering applications and communication.