The properties of antennas in plasmas

Abstract

The last five years have witnessed remarkable progress in the theory and measurement of both the radiation and impedance properties of antennas in plasmas. Increased motivation for research in this area has been provided by the Space Shuttle program and by the prospect of nuclear fusion. The focus of attention has been on resonance cones in linear, anisotropic plasmas, including radiation patterns, wave interference, pulse propagation, reflections from boundaries and inhomogeneous media effects. Under nonlinear conditions, the focussed field of a resonance cone can significantly depress the plasma density. Under both linear and nonlinear conditions, the input impedance of dipole and loop antennas has been studied extensively, for both anisotropic and isotropic plasmas. A continuing challenge has been the as-yet-not-fully-explained experimental observation of linear, non-collisional enhanced resistivity of the sheath region around an antenna. Numerical impedance calculations employing simplified velocity distributions have shown particular promise. Ion and electron wave radiation patterns for various antenna shapes have been calculated and checked experimentally. The response of both single antennas and pairs of antennas to plasma fluctuations has been studied and found to have applications to plasma diagnostics.