Self-Consistent Analysis of Cylindrical Plasma Antennas

Author

Russo, Paola ; Cerri, Graziano ; Vecchioni, Eleonora

Author_Institution

Dip. Ing. Biomedica, Elettron. e Telecomun., Univ. Politec. delle Marche, Ancona, Italy

Volume

59

Issue

5

fYear

2011

fDate

5/1/2011 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1503

Lastpage

1511

Abstract

Plasma can be used to create antennas: its conductivity is given by free electrons resulting from gas ionization. This process is obtained with the application of an intense electromagnetic field to a glass tube filled with a low pressure gas. The pump signal needed for ionization and gas discharge parameters have to be carefully chosen in order to optimize plasma antenna design and realization; in particular discharge working conditions have to be defined to obtain the desired antenna properties in terms of efficiency and effective length. For this purpose a self-consistent numerical model of a surface wave driven plasma column has been developed. This tool helps to understand the physical aspects involved in the problem and allows a parametric investigation to be carried out.

Keywords

antennas in plasma; discharges (electric); electrical conductivity; ionisation; plasma electromagnetic wave propagation; plasma filled waveguides; antenna property; conductivity; cylindrical plasma antenna; electromagnetic field; free electron; gas discharge; gas ionization; glass tube; low pressure gas; plasma antenna design; plasma column; pump signal; self-consistent analysis; self-consistent numerical model; surface wave; Antennas; Electron tubes; Equations; Ionization; Mathematical model; Plasmas; Surface waves; Antenna; FDTD; plasma; surface waves;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-926X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TAP.2011.2122292

Filename

5723723