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Abstract Plasma is one of the advanced technology in semiconducting materials.

Scientist states that 99% of the universe is covered with plasma. Plasma Antenna is a special type of antenna in which the metal conducting elements of a conventional antenna are replaced by plasma. It is the fourth state of matter similar to gas. It employs an ionized gas enclosed in a tube as the conducting element of an antenna. When the gas is electrically charged or ionized to plasma, it becomes conductive and allowing radio frequency signals to be transmitted or received. When gas is not ionized, the antenna element ceases to exit. When voltage is applied to an antenna, electric field is produced which causes current to flow in antenna. Due to current flow, magnetic field is produced. It is more advantageous than other antenna due to ionized gas. It has higher efficiency and enhanced bandwidth. I. Plasma Plasma is a gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. The presence of a non-negligible number of charge carriers makes the plasma electrically conductive so that it responds strongly to electromagnetic fields. Plasma has properties quite unlike those of solids, liquids, or gases and is considered be a distinct state of matter. a. Plasma Antenna A plasma antenna is a type of radio antenna currently in development in which plasma is used instead of the metal elements of a traditional antenna. A plasma antenna can be used for both transmission and reception. Plasma antenna technology is that which employs ionized gas enclosed in a tube as conducting element. This is a fundamental change from traditional antenna design that generally employs solid metal wires as the conducting element. Ionized gas is an efficient conducting element with a number of important advantages. Since the gas is ionized only for the time of transmission or reception, ringing and associated effects of solid wire antenna design are eliminated. This technology has advanced to provide unique antenna designs for applications ranging from general broadcast of radio frequency signals for public use to complex weapon systems.

b. Features Of Plasma Antenna Plasma antenna has the ability to focus a signal beam easily and to communicate signals in very short pulses, which could prove extremely useful in the areas of digital communications and radar. Changes in the ion density can result in instantaneous changes in bandwidth over wide dynamic range. Plasma Antenna are reconfigurable for frequency, bandwidth, gain, length of plasma column, radius of glass tube. Plasma Antenna can transmit and receive from same aperture provided the frequencies are widely separated. c. Characteristics of Plasma Antenna Gas ionizing process can manipulate resistance and when deionized, the gas has infinite resistance and doesn't interact with RF radiation. After sending pulse, it can be deionized and eliminates ringing effect. Operates up to 90 GHz. It uses ionized gas as conducting material. The gas is ionized only for the time of transmission or reception. The design allows for extremely short pulses, important to many forms of digital communication and radars. II. Types of Plasma Antenna The following are the main types of plasma antennas: Laser Induced antenna. The transmission was realized along a plasma channel that was created by the atmosphere breakdown. The atmosphere breakdown was created by the focused laser emission. The laser is used to designate the path of the antenna while an electrical discharge is employed to create and sustain the plasma. Plasma Antennas Using Tube Structures. When the plasma creating voltage is turned off, the antenna effectively disappears. An efficiency of 50% was observed, the radiation patterns were predictable, and lowbase-band noise for HF and VHF transmissions was recorded. The glass tube design can be very effective in providing the desires previously mentioned. When the glass tube is not energized, no plasma exists; therefore the antenna is nonconducting and incapable of coupling an EMP. If the antenna is energized with a low plasma frequency, an EMP will simply pass through the plasma without coupling into the device.

The electron plasma frequency, Explosively Formed Plasma Dielectric Antennas. A simple explosive charge design, called a plasma cartridge, can be used to generate a column of ionized gas. In this design, 1-3 grams of seeded explosive charge, which contained Fe, Pb, C, N, K, CI, and O was used to create plasma. The jet obtained a distance of 4 m in l mks. Due to the high temperatures generated by the explosive material, the surrounding gases became ionized, forming a plasma column. In this, the plasma generated by the plasma cartridge had a temperature of 3650K with an estimated plasma density of 5x1019 cm3. The temperatures required to produce these plasmas are a direct result of the specific explosive constituents employed. Most likely, though it is not stated, this plasma cartridge design used potassium perchlorate or some other high temperature producing oxidizer. For the fuel in the explosive to bum, oxygen is required and the amount provided in the atmosphere is minimal compared with oxidizing agents. Typical high explosives contain an oxidizer in order to provide an ample amount of oxygen for the fuel, which ensures that all of the fuel contributes to the explosive process. The maximum attainable temperature that can be achieved is dependent upon the available oxygen for fuel recombination. It has been proven that a plasma jet antenna is feasible, but the details of such a design are not yet fully understood.

The ion plasma frequency,

The plasma frequency,

As the electrons are so much lighter than ions,

PLASMA TUBE ANTENNA

IONIZED GAS PLASMA ANTENNA

any one time. This enables the beam to be steered quickly without the need for mechanical motion. In some realizations, the silicon disc (i.e. Si wafer) can act as a cylindrical lens, to form a lens or reflector system that enables the RF energy to be collimated. When supply is given to the tube, the gas inside it gets ionised to plasma. When plasma is highly energized, it behaves as a conductor. Antenna generates a localized concentration of plasma to form a plasma mirror that deflects RF beam launched from a central feed located at focus of mirror. When plasma jet enters into the spiral field, signals are emitted. The spiral is a localised concentration of plasma. These spirals behave as plasma mirrors which helps in transmission of RF signals.

IV. PSIAN UK researchers are working on a solid-state plasma antenna called Plasma Silicon Antenna, or PSIAN. This uses beam forming technology and the same manufacturing process currently used for silicon chips. That makes it small enough to bung into smartphones. "Higher frequencies mean shorter wavelengths and hence smaller antennas," Plasma Antennas business development director Ian Russell told New Scientist magazine. "The antenna actually becomes cheaper at the smaller scales because you need less silicon." There is a gas plasma alternative but it's not solid-state so it is bigger and contains moving parts, making it more of a pain to manufacturer. That leaves the door open for PSIAN to be used for next generation Wi-Gig that can reach up to 7Gbps bandwidth over frequencies up to 60GHz. The good news is that Plasma Antennas reckon it will be on the shelf in the next couple of years. The bad news is that the US military wants to use it to create a more advanced version of its existing pain beam. High frequency plasma antenna could hold the key for economically viable superfast wireless networking. We've had boffins using humans to create body-to-body wireless networks. Now they want to use plasma antennas to get ridiculously fast wireless speeds. But we don't mean you can pop into Dixon's at the weekend and slap another antenna into your plasma TV - it's a little bit more complicated than that.

III. Working Principle A plasma antenna generates localized concentrations of plasma to form a plasma mirror which deflects an RF beam launched from a central feed located at the focus of the mirror. An ionized region, or solid state plasma, can be generated in silicon using electronically controlled devices (plasma diodes) that are positioned between closely spaced metalized surfaces which constrain the beam. The plasma can be freely moved by switching groups of plasma diodes on and off that follow the desired geometry of the reflector. The resulting pattern

of plasma diodes forms a rosette of overlapping reflectors only one of which is active (i.e. reflecting) at

Advantages: One of the chief benefits of a plasma antenna is the nature of the plasma used in the device. Plasma possesses a high level of conductivity when it comes to electricity, which in turn means that it has the properties to aid in the receipt, direction, and transmission of various types of radio signals. Based on the frequencies used, a plasma antenna may be able to receive signals that would not be detectable by older types of antennas, as well as boost signals that are then transmitted out to other points. The stronger signal in turn means clearer reception and the ability for the transmitted data to be used quickly and efficiently. Older antennas are more subject to permanent damage during wartime, effectively debilitating a communications system that leaves one opponent at significant risk. By contrast, a plasma antenna is much less susceptible to electrical damage and can often be repaired much faster if some event does occur to temporarily interfere with its function.

Applications:

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