Theory and simulations of a beam-scanning plasma antenna

The use of plasma as a tunable material to create a beam-scanning antenna is analyzed. A configuration where leaky waves are excited in a plasma layer is studied. It is shown theoretically and numerically how, at constant excitation frequency, radiation angle varies over approximately a scan range of 80° with realistic plasma electronic density. Moreover, the choice of a plasma source is discussed and preliminary measurement results on a radiofrequency reactor of our laboratory are presented.