Experimental Characterization of a Surfaguide Fed Plasma Antenna

Abstract

The possibility of using a surfaguide device as plasma source for plasma antenna application has been experimentally investigated. The surfaguide was optimized, realized and used for the ignition of a plasma column to be used as a radiating structure: the coupling with the radiated signal network and plasma antenna efficiency were measured showing that a surfaguide can be effectively used to create and sustain the plasma conductive medium. A plasma diagnostic technique was also developed to evaluate the plasma column length and plasma conductivity with respect to the power supplied. These measurements highlighted that plasma antenna properties are strongly affected by the pump signal and therefore this signal has to be optimized in order to have the highest conductivity.

Theoretical and experimental investigations of surface-waves plasma column and microwave plasma source for applications in reconfigurable plasma antenna

“…The main advantages of surfaguide with respect to other plasma sources are the possibility of using the frequency of 2.45 GHz for the pump signal and troubleshooting the limitations of power handling capability because, at this frequency, high power is available at low cost. Paola Russo et al have used the technique to ionize plasma [13,14]. A major part of their activity is concentrated on experimental measurements.…”

“…In this article, a novel aperture-coupled microstrip-to-waveguide transition having a broad operating bandwidth and providing for a simple fabrication and assembly is presented. The basic circuit configuration is based on aperture-coupled vertically-mounted (VM) strip structures which have been introduced for the coupling and radiating elements [13,14]. A parametric study and a sensitivity analysis were made in order to find the optimal design data and to investigate the tolerance issue, respectively.…”

Plasma antennas driven by 5–20 kHz AC power supply

“…By varying the operating parameters, a single plasma antenna can be transformed into multiple antenna elements, which can then be arranged in different series. Russo and Cerri [9][10][11] have researched the properties of the surfaguide-fed plasma antenna. The problems of the nonlinear behavior of plasma antenna vibrators have been studied by Belyaev et al 12 Zhang et al 13 investigated the interactions between electromagnetic waves and glow plasma.…”

“…In addition, the problem of the simultaneous presence of two RF signals in the excitation and signal channels must also be considered. 11 The problems of electromagnetic interference and bandwidth requirements must therefore be solved urgently. In common with many other plasma sources, a 5-20 kHz AC power supply is used in this work, and presents some advantages in the design of plasma antennas: no bandwidth limitations, low excitation power, low noise and simple realization.…”

Theoretical and experimental investigation of plasma antenna characteristics on the basis of gaseous collisionality and electron density

“…A plasma antenna is a RF antenna partially composed of plasma instead of metals or dielectrics. There are several types of antenna structures such as pole, [1][2][3] loop, [4][5][6][7] reflection, 8) and plane. 9) In most cases, the plasma antenna is composed of a dielectric tube filled with low-pressure gases, and plasma is generated by electric power fed at the end of the tube.…”