PLASMA ANTENNA

BY

NITISH SHARMA 7th Semester (Enrolment No. 23/08)

ROLL NO. 07

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, SRINAGAR KASHMIR 190006 (INDIA) SEPTEMBER 2011

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, SRINAGAR KASHMIR 190006 (INDIA)

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the seminar entitled PLASMA ANTENNA has been prepared by the 7th semester student viz. Mr. NITISH SHARMA under my guidance. The presentation of the seminar was given by the student on SEPTEMBER 17 2011 in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) in Electronics and Communication Engineering by National Institute of Technology Srinagar, Kashmir.

(Seminar Supervisor) Mrs. GAUSIA QAZI Lecture Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, NITS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Plasma
Properties & parameters

Antenna
Overview Need for antenna technology

Plasma antenna
Development progress Unique characterstics Plasma silicon antenna Advantages and limitations

Plasma generation and containment

Using electrodes Using surface waves Using lasers

Applications Bibliography

ACKNOWLEDGEMT
It is with great affection and appreciation that I acknowledge my heartfelt gratitude to Mrs. Gausia Qazi, Lecturer, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology Srinagar, who gave her full guidance and cooperation in the preparation of the seminar topic PLASMA ANTENNA.

My special thanks to my classmates, the distinguished faculty members and the non-teaching employees of the department of Electronics and Communication engineering N.I.T Srinagar, who cooperated with me in the collection of this seminar materials

NITISH SHARMA (Enrollment No-23/08)

PLASMA
Plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize (reduce the number of electrons in) its molecules or atoms, thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons. Ionization can be induced by other means, such as strong electromagnetic field applied with a laser or microwave generator, and is accompanied by the dissociation of molecular bonds, if present. The presence of a nonnegligible number of charge carriers makes the plasma electrically conductive so that it responds strongly to electromagnetic fields. Plasma, therefore, has properties quite unlike those of solids, liquids, or gases and is considered a distinct state of matter. Like gas, plasma does not have a definite shape or a definite volume unless enclosed in a container; unlike gas, under the influence of a magnetic field, it may form structures such as filaments, beams and double layer. Some common plasmas are stars and neon signs. In the universe, plasma is the most common state of matter for ordinary matter, most of which is in the rarefied intergalactic plasma (particularly intracluster medium) and in stars. Plasmas are by far the most common phase of matter in the universe, both by mass and by volume. All the stars are made of plasma, and even the space between the stars is filled with a plasma, albeit a very sparse one. In our solar system, the planet Jupiter accounts for most of the non-plasma, only about

0.1% of the mass and 1015% of the volume within the orbit of Pluto. Very small grains within a gaseous plasma will also pick up a net negative charge, so that they in turn may act like a very heavy negative ion component of the plasma. Common forms of plasma Artificially produced Those found in plasma displays, including TVs Inside fluorescent lamps (low energy lighting), neon signs Rocket exhaust and ion thrusters The area in front of a spacecraft's heat shield during re-entry into the atmosphere Inside a corona discharge ozone generator Fusion energy research The electric arc in an arc lamp, an arc welder or plasma torch Plasma ball (sometimes called a plasma sphere or plasma globe) Arcs produced by Tesla coils (resonant air core transformer or disruptor coil that produces arcs similar to lightning but with alternating current rather than static Terrestrial plasmas Space and Astrophysical plasmas

Lightning Ball lightning St. Elmo's fire Upperatmospheric lightning The ionosphere The polar aurorae Some extremely hot flames

The Sun and other stars (plasmas heated by nuclear fusion) The solar wind The interplanetary medium (space between planets) The interstellar medium (space between star systems) The Intergalactic medium (space between galaxies) The Io-Jupiter flux tube Accretion discs Interstellar nebulae

electricity) Plasmas used in semiconductor device fabrication including reacti ve-ion etching,sputtering, surface cleaning and plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition Laser-produced plasmas (LPP), found when high power lasers interact with materials. Inductively coupled plasmas (ICP), formed typically in argon gas for optical emission spectroscopy or mass spectrometry Magnetically induced plasmas (MIP), typically produced using microwaves as a resonant coupling method

Plasma properties and parameters Definition of a plasma

Plasma is loosely described as an electrically neutral medium of positive and negative particles (i.e. the overall charge of a plasma is roughly zero). It is important to note that although they are unbound, these particles are not free. When the charges move they generate electrical currents with magnetic fields, and as a result, they are affected by each others fields. This governs their collective behavior with many degrees of freedom. A definition can have three criteria:

The plasma approximation: Charged particles must be close enough together that each particle influences many nearby charged particles, rather than just interacting with the closest particle (these collective effects are a distinguishing feature of a plasma). The plasma approximation is valid when the number of charge carriers within the sphere of influence (called the Debye sphere whose radius is the Debye screening length) of a particular particle is higher than unity to provide collective behaviour of the charged particles. The average number of particles in the Debye sphere is given by the plasma parameter, "" (the Greek letter Lambda). Bulk interactions: The Debye screening length is short compared to the physical size of the plasma. This criterion means that interactions in the bulk of the plasma are more important than those at its edges, where boundary effects may take place. When this criterion is satisfied, the plasma is quasi neutral. Plasma frequency: The electron plasma frequency (measuring plasma oscillations of the electrons) is large compared to the electron-neutral collision frequency (measuring frequency of collisions between electrons and neutral particles). When this condition is valid, electrostatic interactions dominate over the processes of ordinary gas kinetics.

PARAMETERS
Degree of ionization
For plasma to exist, ionization is necessary. The term "plasma density" by itself usually refers to the "electron density", that is, the number of free electrons per unit volume. The degree of ionization of a plasma is the proportion of atoms that have lost (or gained) electrons, and is controlled mostly by the temperature. Even a partially ionized gas in which as little as 1% of the particles are ionized can have the characteristics of a plasma (i.e., response to magnetic fields and high electrical conductivity). The degree of ionization, is defined as = ni/(ni + na) where ni is the number density of ions and na is the number density of neutral atoms.

Temperatures
Plasma temperature is commonly measured in kelvins or electronvolts and is, informally, a measure of the thermal kinetic energy per particle. Very high temperatures are usually needed to sustain ionization, which is a defining feature of a plasma. The degree of plasma ionization is determined by the "electron temperature" relative to the ionization energy, (and more weakly by the density. At low temperatures, ions and electrons tend to recombine into bound statesatoms, and the plasma will eventually become a gas. Based on the relative temperatures of the electrons, ions and neutrals, plasmas are classified as "thermal" or "non-thermal". Thermal plasmas have electrons and the heavy particles at the same temperature, i.e., they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. Non-thermal plasmas on the other hand have the ions and neutrals at a much lower temperature, (normally room temperature), whereas electrons are much "hotter". A plasma is sometimes referred to as being "hot" if it is nearly fully ionized, or "cold" if only a small fraction (for example 1%), of the gas molecules are ionized, but other definitions of the terms "hot plasma" and "cold plasma" are common. Even in a "cold" plasma, the electron temperature is still typically several thousand degrees Celsius. Plasmas utilized in "plasma technology" ("technological plasmas") are usually cold in this sense.

ANTENNA
An antenna (or aerial) is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter applies an oscillating radio frequency electric current to the antenna's terminals, and the antenna radiates the energy from the current as electromagnetic waves (radio waves). In reception, an antenna intercepts some of the power of an electromagnetic wave in order to produce a tiny voltage at its terminals, that is applied to a receiver to be amplified. An antenna can be used for both transmitting and receiving.

Antennas are thus essential components of all equipment that uses radio. They are used in systems such as radio broadcasting, broadcast television, two-way radio, communications receivers, radar, cell phones, and satellite communications, as well as other devices such as garage door openers, wireless microphones, bluetooth enabled devices, wireless computer networks, baby monitors, and RFID tags on merchandise. Typically an antenna consists of an arrangement of metallic conductors ("elements"), electrically connected (often through a transmission line) to the receiver or transmitter. An oscillating current of electrons forced through the antenna by a transmitter will create an oscillating magnetic field around the antenna elements, while the charge of the electrons also creates an oscillating electric field along the elements. These time-varying fields radiate away from the antenna into space as a moving electromagnetic field wave. Conversely, during reception, the oscillating electric and magnetic fields of an incoming radio wave exert force on the electrons in the antenna elements, causing them to move, creating oscillating currents in the antenna. Antennas may also contain reflective or directive elements or surfaces not connected to the transmitter or receiver, such as parasitic elements, parabolic reflectors or horns, which serve to direct the radio waves into a beam or other desired radiation pattern. Antennas can be designed to transmit or receive radio waves in all directions equally (omnidirectional antennas), or transmit them in a beam in a particular direction, and receive from that one direction only (directional or high gain antennas). The first antennas were built in 1888 by German physicist Heinrich Hertz in his pioneering experiments to prove the existence of electromagnetic waves predicted by the theory of James Clerk Maxwell. Hertz placed dipole antennas at the focal point of parabolic reflectors for both transmitting and receiving. TERMINOLOGY The words antenna (plural: antennas) and aerial are used interchangeably, but usually a rigid metallic structure is termed an antenna and a wire format is called an aerial. In the United Kingdom and other British English speaking areas the term aerial is more common, even for rigid types. The origin of the word antenna relative to wireless apparatus is attributed to Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi. In 1895, while testing early radio

apparatus in the Swiss Alps at Salvan, Switzerland in the Mont Blanc region, Marconi experimented with long wire 'aerials'. He used a 2.5 meter vertical pole, with a wire attached to the top running down to the transmitter, as a radiating and receiving aerial element. In Italian a tent pole is known as l'antenna centrale, and the pole with the wire was simply called l'antenna. Until then wireless radiating transmitting and receiving elements were known simply as aerials or terminals. Because of his prominence, Marconi's use of the word antenna (Italian for pole) spread among wireless researchers, and later to the general public. In common usage, the word antenna may refer broadly to an entire assembly including support structure, enclosure (if any), etc. in addition to the actual functional components. Especially at microwave frequencies, a receiving antenna may include not only the actual electrical antenna but an integrated preamplifier and/or mixer.

Overview
Antennas are required by any radio receiver or transmitter to couple its electrical connection to the electromagnetic field. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves which carry signals through the air (or through space) at the speed of light with almost no transmission loss. Radio transmitters and receivers are used to convey signals (information) in systems including broadcast (audio) radio, television, mobile telephones, Wi-Fi (WLAN) data networks, trunk lines and point-to-point communications links (telephone, data networks), satellite links, many remote controlled devices such as garage door openers, and wireless remote sensors, among many others. Radio waves are also used directly for measurements in technologies including RADAR, GPS, and radio astronomy. In each and every case, the transmitters and receivers involved require antennas, although these are sometimes hidden (such as the antenna inside an AM radio or inside a laptop computer equipped with Wi-Fi). According to their applications and technology available, antennas generally fall in one of two categories: Omnidirectional or only weakly directional antennas which receive or radiate more or less in all directions. These are employed when the relative position of the other station is unknown or arbitrary. They are also used at lower

frequencies where a directional antenna would be too large, or simply to cut costs in applications where a directional antenna isn't required. Directional or beam antennas which are intended to preferentially radiate or receive in a particular direction or directional pattern. In common usage "omnidirectional" usually refers to all horizontal directions, typically with reduced performance in the direction of the sky or the ground (a truly isotropic radiator is not even possible). A "directional" antenna usually is intended to maximize its coupling to the electromagnetic field in the direction of the other station, or sometimes to cover a particular sector such as a 120 horizontal fan pattern in the case of a panel antenna at a cell site. One example of omnidirectional antennas is the very common vertical antenna or whip antenna consisting of a metal rod (often, but not always, a quarter of a wavelength long). A dipole antenna is similar but consists of two such conductors extending in opposite directions, with a total length that is often, but not always, a half of a wavelength long. Dipoles are typically oriented horizontally in which case they are weakly directional: signals are reasonably well radiated toward or received from all directions with the exception of the direction along the conductor itself; this region is called the antenna blind cone or null. Both the vertical and dipole antennas are simple in construction and relatively inexpensive. The dipole antenna, which is the basis for most antenna designs, is a balanced component, with equal but opposite voltages and currents applied at its two terminals through a balanced transmission line. The vertical antenna, on the other hand, is a monopole antenna. It is typically connected to the inner conductor of a coaxial transmission line (or a matching network); the shield of the transmission line is connected to ground. In this way, the ground (or any large conductive surface) plays the role of the second conductor of a dipole, thereby forming a complete circuit. Since monopole antennas rely on a conductive ground, a so-called grounding structure may be employed to provide a better ground contact to the earth or which itself acts as a ground plane to perform that function regardless of (or in absence of) an actual contact with the earth. Antennas fancier than the dipole or vertical designs are usually intended to increase the directivity and consequently the gain of the antenna. This can be

accomplished in many different ways leading to a plethora of antenna designs. The vast majority of designs are fed with a balanced line (unlike a monopole antenna) and are based on the dipole antenna with additional components (or elements) which increase its directionality. For instance, a phased array consists of two or more simple antennas which are connected together through an electrical network. This often involves a number of parallel dipole antennas with a certain spacing. Depending on the relative phase introduced by the network, the same combination of dipole antennas can operate as a "broadside array" (directional normal to a line connecting the elements) or as an "end-fire array" (directional along the line connecting the elements). Antenna arrays may employ any basic (omnidirectional or weakly directional) antenna type, such as dipole, loop or slot antennas. These elements are often identical. However a log-periodic dipole array consists of a number of dipole elements of different lengths in order to obtain a somewhat directional antenna having an extremely wide bandwidth: these are frequently used for television reception in fringe areas. The dipole antennas composing it are all considered "active elements" since they are all electrically connected together (and to the transmission line). On the other hand, a superficially similar dipole array, the Yagi-Uda Antenna (or simply "Yagi"), has only one dipole element with an electrical connection; the other so-called parasitic elements interact with the electromagnetic field in order to realize a fairly directional antenna but one which is limited to a rather narrow bandwidth. The Yagi antenna has similar looking parasitic dipole elements but which act differently due to their somewhat different lengths. There may be a number of so-called "directors" in front of the active element in the direction of propagation, and usually a single (but possibly more) "reflector" on the opposite side of the active element. Greater directionality can be obtained using beam-forming techniques such as a parabolic reflector or a horn. Since the size of a directional antenna depends on it being large compared to the wavelength, very directional antennas of this sort are mainly feasible at UHF and microwave frequencies. On the other hand, at low frequencies (such as AM broadcast) where a practical antenna must be much smaller than a wavelength, significant directionality isn't even possible. A vertical antenna or loop antenna small compared to the wavelength is typically used, with the main design challenge being that of impedance matching.

Reciprocity
It is a fundamental property of antennas that the electrical characteristics of an antenna described in the next section, such as gain, radiation pattern, impedance, bandwidth, resonant frequency and polarization, are the same whether the antenna is transmitting or receiving. For example, the "receiving pattern" (sensitivity as a function of direction) of an antenna when used for reception is identical to the radiation pattern of the antenna when it is driven and functions as a radiator. This is a consequence of the reciprocity theorem of electromagnetics. Therefore in discussions of antenna properties no distinction is usually made between receiving and transmitting terminology, and the antenna can be viewed as either transmitting or receiving, whichever is more convenient. A necessary condition for the above reciprocity property is that the materials in the antenna and transmission medium are linear and reciprocal. Reciprocal (or bilateral) means that the material has the same response to an electric or magnetic field, or a current, in one direction, as it has to the field or current in the opposite direction. Most materials used in antennas meet these conditions, but some microwave antennas use high-tech components such as isolators and circulators, made of nonreciprocal materials such as ferrite or garnet. These can be used to give the antenna a different behaviour on receiving than it has on transmitting, which can be useful in applications like radar.

Parameters
Antennas are characterized by a number of performance measures which a user would be concerned with in selecting or designing an antenna for a particular application. Chief among these relate to the directional characteristics (as depicted in the antenna's radiation pattern) and the resulting gain. Even in omnidirectional (or weakly directional) antennas, the gain can often be increased by concentrating more of its power in the horizontal directions, sacrificing power radiated toward the sky and ground. The antenna's power gain (or simply "gain") also takes into account the antenna's efficiency, and is often the primary figure of merit.

Resonant antennas are expected to be used around a particular resonant frequency; an antenna must therefore be built or ordered to match the frequency range of the intended application. A particular antenna design will present a particular feedpoint impedance. While this may affect the choice of an antenna, an antenna's impedance can also be adapted to the desired impedance level of a system using an matching network while maintaining the other characteristics (except for a possible loss of efficiency). Although these parameters can be measured in principle, such measurements are difficult and require very specialized equipment. Beyond tuning a transmitting antenna using an SWR meter, the typical user will depend on theoretical predictions based on the antenna design and/or on claims of a vendor. An antenna transmits and receives radio waves with a particular polarization which can be reoriented by tilting the axis of the antenna in many (but not all) cases. The physical size of an antenna is often a practical issue, particularly at lower frequencies (longer wavelengths). Highly directional antennas need to be significantly larger than the wavelength. Resonant antennas use a conductor, or a pair of conductors, each of which is about one quarter of the wavelength in length. Antennas that are required to be very small compared to the wavelength sacrifice efficiency and cannot be very directional. Fortunately at higher frequencies (UHF, microwaves) trading off performance to obtain a smaller physical size is usually not required.

Bandwidth
Although a resonant antenna has a purely resistive feedpoint impedance at a particular frequency, many (if not most) applications require using an antenna over a range of frequencies. An antenna's bandwidth specifies the range of frequencies over which its performance does not suffer due a poor impedance match. Also in the case of a Yagi-Uda array, the use of the antenna very far away from its design frequency reduces the antenna's directivity, thus reducing the usable bandwidth regardless of impedance matching. Except for the latter concern, the resonant frequency of a resonant antenna can always be altered by adjusting a suitable matching network. To do this efficiently one would require remotely adjusting a matching network at the

site of the antenna, since simply adjusting a matching network at the transmitter (or receiver) would leave the transmission line with a poor standing wave ratio. Instead, it is often desired to have an antenna whose impedance does not vary so greatly over a certain bandwidth.

Gain
Gain is a parameter which measures the degree of directivity of the antenna's radiation pattern. A high-gain antenna will preferentially radiate in a particular direction. Specifically, the antenna gain, or power gain of an antenna is defined as the ratio of the intensity (power per unit surface) radiated by the antenna in the direction of its maximum output, at an arbitrary distance, divided by the intensity radiated at the same distance by a hypothetical isotropic antenna. The gain of an antenna is a passive phenomenon - power is not added by the antenna, but simply redistributed to provide more radiated power in a certain direction than would be transmitted by an isotropic antenna. An antenna designer must take into account the application for the antenna when determining the gain. High-gain antennas have the advantage of longer range and better signal quality, but must be aimed carefully in a particular direction. Low-gain antennas have shorter range, but the orientation of the antenna is relatively inconsequential. For example, a dish antenna on a spacecraft is a high-gain device that must be pointed at the planet to be effective, whereas a typical Wi-Fi antenna in a laptop computer is low-gain, and as long as the base station is within range, the antenna can be in any orientation in space. It makes sense to improve horizontal range at the expense of reception above or below the antenna. Thus most antennas labelled "omnidirectional" really have some gain.

Radiation pattern
The radiation pattern of an antenna is a plot of the relative field strength of the radio waves emitted by the antenna at different angles. It is typically represented by a three dimensional graph, or polar plots of the horizontal and vertical cross sections. The pattern of an ideal isotropic antenna, which radiates equally in all directions, would look like a sphere. Many nondirectional antennas, such as monopoles and dipoles, emit equal power in all horizontal

directions, with the power dropping off at higher and lower angles; this is called an omnidirectional pattern and when plotted looks like a torus or donut. The radiation of many antennas shows a pattern of maxima or "lobes" at various angles, separated by "nulls", angles where the radiation falls to zero. This is because the radio waves emitted by different parts of the antenna typically interfere, causing maxima at angles where the radio waves arrive at distant points polar plots of the horizontal cross sect in phase, and zero radiation at other angles where the radio waves arrive out of phase. In a directional antenna designed to project radio waves in a particular direction, the lobe in that direction is designed larger than the others and is called the "main lobe". The other lobes usually represent unwanted radiation and are called "side lobes". The axis through the main lobe is called the "principle axis" or "bore sight axis".

Impedance
As an electro-magnetic wave travels through the different parts of the antenna system (radio, feed line, antenna, free space) it may encounter differences in impedance (E/H, V/I, etc.). At each interface, depending on the impedance match, some fraction of the wave's energy will reflect back to the source, forming a standing wave in the feed line. The ratio of maximum power to minimum power in the wave can be measured and is called the standing wave ratio (SWR). A SWR of 1:1 is ideal. A SWR of 1.5:1 is considered to be marginally acceptable in low power applications where power loss is more critical, although an SWR as high as 6:1 may still be usable with the right equipment. Minimizing impedance differences at each interface (impedance matching) will reduce SWR and maximize power transfer through each part of the antenna system.

Efficiency
Efficiency of a transmitting antenna is the ratio of power actually radiated (in all directions) to the power absorbed by the antenna terminals. The power supplied to the antenna terminals which is not radiated is converted into heat. This is usually through loss resistance in the antenna's conductors, but can also be due to dielectric or magnetic core losses in antennas (or antenna systems)

using such components. Such loss effectively robs power from the transmitter, requiring a stronger transmitter in order to transmit a signal of a given strength. For instance, if a transmitter delivers 100 W into an antenna having an efficiency of 80%, then the antenna will radiate 80 W as radio waves and produce 20 W of heat. In order to radiate 100 W of power, one would need to use a transmitter capable of supplying 125 W to the antenna.

Polarization
The polarization of an antenna is the orientation of the electric field (E-plane) of the radio wave with respect to the Earth's surface and is determined by the physical structure of the antenna and by its orientation. It has nothing in common with antenna directionality terms: "horizontal", "vertical" and "circular". Thus, a simple straight wire antenna will have one polarization when mounted vertically, and a different polarization when mounted horizontally. "Electromagnetic wave polarization filters" are structures which can be employed to act directly on the electromagnetic wave to filter out wave energy of an undesired polarization and to pass wave energy of a desired polarization. Reflections generally affect polarization. For radio waves the most important reflector is the ionosphere - signals which reflect from it will have their polarization changed unpredictably. For signals which are reflected by the ionosphere, polarization cannot be relied upon. For line-of-sight communications for which polarization can be relied upon, it can make a large difference in signal quality to have the transmitter and receiver using the same polarization; many tens of dB difference are commonly seen and this is more than enough to make the difference between reasonable communication and a broken link. Polarization is largely predictable from antenna construction but, especially in directional antennas, the polarization of side lobes can be quite different from that of the main propagation lobe. For radio antennas, polarization corresponds to the orientation of the radiating element in an antenna. A vertical omnidirectional Wi-Fi antenna will have vertical polarization (the most common type). An exception is a class of elongated waveguide antennas in which vertically placed antennas are horizontally polarized. Many commercial antennas are marked as to the polarization of their emitted signals.

Polarization is the sum of the E-plane orientations over time projected onto an imaginary plane perpendicular to the direction of motion of the radio wave. In the most general case, polarization is elliptical, meaning that the polarization of the radio waves varies over time. Two special cases are linear polarization (the ellipse collapses into a line) and circular polarization (in which the two axes of the ellipse are equal). In linear polarization the antenna compels the electric field of the emitted radio wave to a particular orientation. Depending on the orientation of the antenna mounting, the usual linear cases are horizontal and vertical polarization. In circular polarization, the antenna continuously varies the electric field of the radio wave through all possible values of its orientation with regard to the Earth's surface. Circular polarizations, like elliptical ones, are classified as right-hand polarized or lefthand polarized using a "thumb in the direction of the propagation" rule. Optical researchers use the same rule of thumb, but pointing it in the direction of the emitter, not in the direction of propagation, and so are opposite to radio engineers' use.

Impedance matching
Maximum power transfer requires matching the impedance of an antenna system (as seen looking into the transmission line) to the complex conjugate of the impedance of the receiver or transmitter. In the case of a transmitter, however, the desired matching impedance might not correspond to the dynamic output impedance of the transmitter as analyzed as a source impedance but rather the design value (typically 50 ohms) required for efficient and safe operation of the transmitting circuitry. The intended impedance is normally resistive but a transmitter (and some receivers) may have additional adjustments to cancel a certain amount of reactance in order to "tweak" the match. When a transmission line is used in between the antenna and the transmitter (or receiver) one generally would like an antenna system whose impedance is resistive and near the characteristic impedance of that transmission line in order to minimize the standing wave ratio (SWR) and the increase in transmission line losses it entails, in addition to supplying a good match at the transmitter or receiver itself. Antenna tuning generally refers to cancellation of any reactance seen at the antenna terminals, leaving only a resistive impedance which might or might not be exactly the desired impedance (that of the transmission line). Although an antenna may be designed to have a purely resistive feedpoint impedance

(such as a dipole 97% of a half wavelength long) this might not be exactly true at the frequency that it is eventually used at. In some cases the physical length of the antenna can be "trimmed" to obtain a pure resistance. On the other hand, the addition of a series inductance or parallel capacitance can be used to cancel a residual capacitative or inductive reactance, respectively. In some cases this is done in a more extreme manner, not simply to cancel a small amount of residual reactance, but to resonate an antenna whose resonance frequency is quite different than the intended frequency of operation.

Need for antenna technology Transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves have become an integral part of present day civilisation. Antenna is an essential part for this process. It is a transducer that transmits or receives electromagnetic waves. In other words, antennas convert electromagnetic radiation into electric current, or vice versa. Antennas are used in systems such as radio and television broadcasting, point to point communication, wireless LAN, cellphones, radar and spacecraft communication. Antennas are most commonly employed in air or outer space, but can also be operated underwater or even through soil and rock at certain frequencies for short distances. Growing need for speed for communication network along with data handling capacity are major forces helping to explore new vistas for transmission and reception. With the wireless generations moving from 2G, 3G, 4G and so on, the real benefit of upgrading the Wi-Fi networks is to get them to run faster. Wi-Fi usually can manage 54 megabits of data per second. The fancied Wi-Gig(a graphical user interface for configuring wireless connection) would handle up to 7 gigabits per second. This would mean downloading a TV show in a matter of seconds. Advances in antenna technology are expected to play a great role in the desired speed. Some of the first rudimentary antennas are built in 1888 by Henrich Hertz (1857-1894) in his pioneering experiments to prove the existence of electromagnetic waves predicted by the theory of James Clerk Maxwell. Hertz placed the emitter dipole at the focal point of a parabolic reflector.

Since the discovery of radio frequency (RF) transmission, antenna design has been an integral part of virtually every communication and radar application. 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. In its most common form, an antenna represents a conducting metal surface that is sized to emit radiations at one or more frequencies. Antennas must be efficient so the maximum amount of signal strength is expended in the propagated wave and not wasted in antenna reflections. There is a long list of antenna designs with their suitability, advantages and limitations .There are many antenna types and many ways of categorizing them. Antenna types can be used to differentiate antennas for radios, television and radar systems. Because antenna can be built for transmission of different frequencies, another way to categorize antenna type is by their frequency. For radio antennas, its important to know whether these are built for, say, frequency modulation (FM) broadcasting at 88-108 MHz or amplitude modulation broadcasting at 535-1605 kHz. For television antennas, one distinguishes between ultra-high frequency (UHF) antennas and very high frequency (VHF) antennas, or antennas that pick up both. The latest version of antenna employs ionized gas enclosed in a tube (or other enclosure) as the conducting element of the antenna.

Plasma antennas
The different states of matter generally found on earth are solid, liquid and gas. Sir William Crookes, an English physicist, identified a fourth state of matter, now called plasma, in 1879. Plasma is by far the most common form of matter. Plasma in the stars and in the tenuous space between them makes up over 99 per cent of the visible universe and perhaps most of what is not visible. Important to antenna technology, plasmas are conductive assemblies of charged and neutral particles and fields that exhibit collective effects. Plasma carry electrical currents generate magnetic fields. A plasma antenna is a type of an antenna in which the metalconducting elements of a conventional antenna are replaced by plasma. These are radio frequency antennas that employ plasma as the guiding medium for electromagnetic radiation. The plasma antennas are essentially a cluster of thousand of diodes on a silicon chip that produce a tiny cloud of electrons when charged. These tiny, dense clouds can reflect high frequency waves like mirror, focusing the beams by selectively activating particular diodes. The beam-forming capability could allow ultra fast transmission of high data loads-

like those needed to seamlessly stream show to an untethered tablet-creating an attractive option for the next generation of supercharged wireless transmitters. Many types of plasma antennas can be constructed, including dipole, loop and reflector antennas. Plasma antennas are interpreted as various devices in which plasma with electric conductivity serves as an emitting element. In gas plasma antenna the concept is to use plasma discharge tubes as the antenna elements. When the tubes are energised, these turn into conductors, and can transmit and receive radio signals. When de-energised, these revert to non-conducting elements and do not reflect probing radio signals. The fact that the emitting element is formed over the interval needed for the emission of an electromagnetic pulse is an important advantage of plasma antennas. In the passive state (in the absence of plasma in the discharge tube), such a device does not exhibit electric conductivity. A plasma stream flowing from a jet into an ambient space, the plasma trace of a body moving at an ultra sonic velocity in the atmosphere, and alternative plasma objects have been studied as possible antenna elements. Solid-state plasma antenna uses beam-forming technology and the same manufacturing process that is currently used in silicon chips. That makes it small enough to fit into smartphones. Higher frequencies mean shorter wavelengths and hence smaller antennas. The antenna actually becomes cheaper with the smaller size because it needs less silicon. There is a gas plasma alternative but its not solidstate, so it is bigger and contains moving parts making it more of a pain to manufacture. That leaves the door open for solid-state plasma antenna to be used for next generation Wi-Gig that can reach upto 7Gbps bandwidth over frequency up to 60 GHz.

Development progress
Initial investigations were related to the feasibility of plasma antennas as lowradar cross-section radiating elements with further development and future commercialisation of this technology. The plasma antenna R&D project has proceeded to develop a new antenna solution that minimises antennadetectability by radar at the first instance. But since then an investigation of wider technical issues of existing antenna system has revealed areas where plasma antenna might be useful. A significant progress has made in developing plasma antennas. Present plasma antennas have been operating in the region of 1 to 10 GHz.

Field trials have shown that an energised plasma reflector is essentially as effective as a metal reflector . However, when de-energised, the reflected signal drops by over 20 dB. Still some technicalities related to plasma antenna like increasing the operating plasma density without overloading the plasma discharge tubes, reducing the power required and the plasma noise caused by the ionising power supply, etc, have to be looked into in order to make them the useful technologies for wireless communication in near future. The future of high-frequency, high speed wireless communications could very well be plasma antennas capable of transmitting focused radio waves that would quickly dissipate using conventional antennas. Thus plasma antenna might be able to revolutionise not just high-speed wireless communications but also radar arrays and directed energy weapons. The good news is that plasma antennas will be on-the-shelf in next couple of years. The bad news is that some military powers can use it to create a more advanced version of the existing pain beam.

UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF A PLASMA ANTENNA

One fundamental distinguishing feature of a plasma antenna is that the gas ionizing process can manipulate resistance. When de-ionized, the gas has infinite resistance and does not interact with RF radiation. When de-ionized the gas antenna will not backscatter radar waves (providing stealth) and will not absorb high-power microwave radiation (reducing the effect of electronic warfare countermeasures). A second fundamental distinguishing feature is that after sending a pulse the plasma antenna can be de-ionized, eliminating the ringing associated with traditional metal elements. Ringing and the associated noise of a metal antenna can severely limit capabilities in high frequency short pulse transmissions. In these applications, metal antennas are often accompanied by sophisticated computer signal processing. By reducing ringing and noise, we believe our plasma antenna provides increased accuracy and reduces computer signal processing requirements. These advantages are important in cutting edge applications for impulse radar and high-speed digital communications. Based on the results of development to date, plasma antenna technology has the following additional attributes: 1) No antenna ringing provides an improved signal to noise ratio and reduces multipath signal distortion.

2) Reduced radar cross section provides stealth due to the non-metallic elements. 3) Changes in the ion density can result in instantaneous changes in bandwidth over wide dynamic ranges. 4) After the gas is ionized, the plasma antenna has virtually no noise floor. 5) A circular scan can be performed electronically with no moving parts at a higher speed than traditional mechanical antenna structures. 6) It has been mathematically illustrated that by selecting the gases and changing ion density that the electrical aperture (or apparent footprint) of a plasma antenna can be made to perform on par with a metal counterpart having a larger physical size. 7) Our plasma antenna can transmit and receive from the same aperture provided the frequencies are widely separated. 8) Plasma resonance, impedance and electron charge density are all dynamically reconfigurable. Ionized gas antenna elements can be constructed and configured into an array that is dynamically reconfigurable for frequency, beamwidth, power, gain, polarization and directionality - on the fly.

PSiAn(plasma silicon antennas) -Plasma Antennas

Plasma Antennas leads the world in developing low cost plasma beam forming devices across the band 1 GHz to 100 GHz. Plasma Antennas PSiAn technology is unique in that it exploits the reflective electromagnetic properties of solid state plasmas to produce very low insertion loss beam forming devices. Conventional microwave and millimetre wave devices have been produced using relatively expensive materials and processes, restricting their application to specialist areas, such as satellite links, military radars and aircraft landing systems. Plasma Antennas PSiAn technology is based on wellestablished silicon integrated circuit manufacturing techniques. These techniques already support the precisions required at higher frequencies without any addition processing or cost. Unlike conventional microwave and millimetre wave devices, the production costs of PSiAn antennas do not increase with frequency. In addition, at higher frequencies, smaller areas of silicon are required to implement plasma devices, further reducing unit costs. The significant cost savings provided by Plasma Antennas PSiAn technology will allow mass market applications to be addressed, such as Wireless Gigabit and Intelligent Transport Systems. In the wide, wireless world weve created for ourselves, its possible to access the Web in more places and on more devices than ever before. But while a new generation of more media

friendly mobile devices (think tablets and large-screen smartphones) makes it possible to view large-bandwidth content like video on, say, our iPads, we still often have to hard-wire those devices to our computers (and the larger Web) to get the kinds of high-data-rate transfers we desire. The future of high-frequency, high-speed wireless communications could very well be plasma antennas capable of transmitting focused radio waves that would quickly dissipate using conventional antennas. Developed by the appropriately named Plasma Antennas in the UK, The Plasma Silicon Antenna, or PSiAN, could revolutionize not just high-speed wireless communications, but also radar arrays and directed energy weapons .Essentially, the PSiAN is a cluster of thousands of diodes on a silicon chip that produces a tiny cloud of electrons when charged. Those tiny, dense clouds can reflect high-frequency waves like mirrors, focusing the beams tightly by selectively activating particular diodes. That beam-forming capability could allow ultrafast transmission of high data loads like those needed to seamlessly stream a TV show to an untethered tablet creating an attractive option for the next generation of supercharged wireless transmitters Plasma antennas might also be used to create low cost radar arrays that could be mounted in cars to help them navigate in low-visibility conditions, or used to make directed energy weapons like the U.S. militarys Pain Ray more focused and less bulky. PSiAN has limitations, however. Solid-state plasma antennas, like PSiAN, could enable next-gen wireless systems capable of beaming entire television shows to tablets in a matter of seconds, but the highfrequency signals required mean that PSiAN antennas operating at higher frequencies couldnt penetrate walls like conventional Wi-Fi, so signals would have to be reflected throughout buildings. Another kind of plasma antenna, known as a gas antenna, could theoretically solve some of these problems because they can operate at a wider range of frequencies, but gas antennas are also more complex (and likely more expensive) than their silicon-diode counterparts, which are small enough to fit inside a cell phone. So as with all new tech there are kinks to iron out, but Plasma Antennas is optimistic Plasma Antennas has developed an innovative range of selectable multibeam antennas that meet exacting demands in todays wireless communications, defence and homeland security markets.

Advantages of plasma antennas

1. Higher power - Increased power can be achieved in the plasma antenna than in the corresponding metal antenna because of lower Ohmic losses. Plasmas have a much wider range of power capability than metals as evident from low powered plasma in fluorescent bulbs to extremely high-powered plasmas in the Princeton University experimental fusion reactors. In this range, a high-powered plasma antenna is still low powered plasma. Since plasmas do not melt, the plasma antennas can provide heat and fire resistance. The higher achievable power and directivity of the plasma antenna can enhance target discrimination and track ballistic missiles at the S and X band. 2. Enhanced bandwidth - By the use of electrodes or lasers the plasma density can be controlled. The theoretical calculations on the controlled variation of plasma density in space and time suggest that greater bandwidth of the plasma antenna can be achieved than the corresponding metal antenna of the same geometry. This enhanced bandwidth can improve discrimination. 3. EMI/ECI - The plasma antenna is transparent to incoming electromagnetic signals in the low density or turned off mode. This eliminates or diminishes EMI/ECI thereby producing stealth. Several plasma antennas can have their electron densities adjusted so that they can operate in close proximity and one antenna can operate invisible to others. In this physical arrangement mutual side lobe and back lobe clutter is highly reduced and hence jamming and clutter is reduced. 4. Higher efficiency and gain - Radiation efficiency in the plasma antenna is higher due to lower Ohmic losses in the plasma. Standing wave efficiency is higher because phase conjugate matching with the antenna feeds can be achieved by adjusting the plasma density and can be maintained during reconfiguration. Estimates indicate a 20db improvement in antenna efficiency. 5. Reconfiguration and multifunctionality - The plasma antenna can be reconfigured on the fly by controlled variation of the plasma density in space and time with far more versatility than any arrangement of metal antennas. This reduces the number of required elements reducing size and weight of shipboard antennas. One option is to construct controlled density plasma blankets around plasma antennas thereby creating windows (low-density sections of the blanket) for main lobe transmission or reception and closing windows (high-density regions in the plasma blanket). The plasma windowing

effect enhances directivity and gain in a single plasma antenna element so that an array will have less elements than a corresponding metal antenna array. Closing plasma windows where back lobes and side lobes exist eliminates them and reduces jamming and clutter. This side lobe reduction below 40db enhances directivity and discrimination. In addition, by changing plasma densities, a single antenna can operate at one bandwidth (e.g. communication) while suppressing another bandwidth (e.g. radar). 6. Lower noise - The plasma antenna has a lower collision rate among its charge carriers than a metal antenna and calculations show that this means less noise. 7. Perfect reflector - When the plasma density is high the plasma becomes a loss-less perfect reflector. Hence there exist the possibilities of a wide range of light weight plasma reflector antennas. 8. An important advantage of plasma antenna over a conventional is that the former is much lighter. Based on a patented beam-forming technologies, these high-performance electronically-steerable antennas are extremely lightweight and compact. 9. Free from mechanical parts, these maintenance-free plasma antennas are ideally suited for a wide range of wireless communication and sensing applications. 10. Plasma antennas boost wireless speeds. Such antenna would enable nextgeneration Wi-Fi that allows the super fast wireless data transfers. 11. Solid-state plasma antennas deliver giga-bit bandwidth, and highfrequency plasma antenna could hold the key for economically viable superfast wireless networking. 12. Plasma antenna might also be used to create low cost radar arrays that could be mounted on cars to help them navigate in low visibility conditions, or used to make directed more focused and less bulky energy weapons. 13. Plasma antennas have developed an innovative range of selectable multibeam antennas that meet the demands in todays wireless communication,

defence

and

homeland

security

markets.

Limitations
1. The current hardware uses a wider range of frequencies so its impractically massive to be used for mobile environments. 2. Plasma antennas are expensive and hard to manufacture. 3. High-frequency signals mean the antennas operating at higher frequencies couldnt penetrate walls like conventional Wi-Fi, so signals would have to be reflected throughout the buildings.

Plasma Generation and Containment

For antenna applications the plasma must be maintained in precise spatial distributions, such as filaments, columns, or sheets. The plasma volume can be contained in an enclosure (tube) or suspended in free space. Compositions that may be used to form plasma in a tube include gases of neon, xenon, argon, krypton, hydrogen, helium, and mercury vapor. Energizing the plasma can be accomplished with electrodes, fiber optics, microwave signals, lasers, RF heating, or electromagnetic couplers. The tube confines the gas and prevents diffusion. The radiation pattern is controlled by parameters such as plasma density, tube shape, and current distribution.

Figure : Examples of a plasma loop and reflector antenna using tubes.

A conventional tube has the disadvantage of requiring two or more contacts (electrodes) for applying the ionizing potential. As an alternative, a surface wave can be used to excite the plasma from a single end. The surface space-charge wave is electro-magnetic in nature. A time-harmonic axial electric field is applied a one end of the plasma column. Charges are displaced and restoring electric fields are set up in response to the applied field. The charges remain balanced in the interior of the plasma, but the electric field causes a deformation of the plasma surface that results in a surface charge layer as shown in Figure. The coaxial device that has been developed to ionize a plasma column based on this principle is the Surfatron.

Figure 5: Distribution of the charges and fields for a surface space-charge wave

Plasma surfaces can be suspended in free space to serve as antenna elements. Ionizing a trail in the atmosphere requires special techniques. High ionization concentrations absorb laser energy, and at some point the ionization tail becomes opaque, thereby limiting the length. Several proposed methods use a laser beam (usually pulsed) to establish a low ionization path, and then subsequent power is applied to achieve intense ionization. Densities of 1019 / cm3 have been predicted, resulting in a conductivity of a few ohms per meter. An ionization path in air suffers beam wander due to fluctuations in temperature, density, and wind along its length. It is necessary to frequently extinguish the path and re-establish one that is straight and concentrated. This is Linear plasma antenna one advantage of using a pulsed laser, another being . excited at one end the higher peak power that is achievable over a continuous wave (CW) laser. Two important parameters of a plasma antenna are the time required for complete ionization, and the decay time once the excitation is removed. The latter is determined by recombination processes, the most important of which is an electron attaching itself to a positive ion to form a neutral molecule. Typical decay times are on the order of tens to hundreds of microseconds.

Linear and Loop Antennas With Plasma Enclosures The first plasma antenna concepts were essentially linear antennas with conductors replaced by plasmas. The basic concept is illustrated in Figure 1 for a loop-shaped antenna. The gas can be ionized using electrodes with sufficient voltage, or by using an EM field to excite the gas. Ionization Using Electrodes Figures 1 and 2 show two of the many
Figure 1: Loop antenna

designs that incorporate closed tubes of gas excited by voltages applied to electrodes. Figure 2 is reconfigurable in this one or more plasma paths can be excited. Different paths would be used in different frequency bands.

Figure 2: Antenna that can be reconfigured by selecting one of multiple plasma paths (dashed lines).

The gas contained in a tube can be ionized by lasers or high power microwave beams, as illustrated in Figure 3. .

Figure 3: Ionization of a tube of gas (LOAD) using standoff lasers.

MARKET APPLICATIONS OF PLASMA TECHNOLOGY Plasma antennas offer distinct advantages and can compete with most metal antenna applications. The plasma antenna's advantages over conventional metal elements are most obvious in military applications where stealth and electronic warfare are primary concerns. Other important military factors are weight, size and the ability to reconfigure. Potential military applications include: _ Shipboard/submarine antenna replacements. _ Unmanned air vehicle sensor antennas. _ IFF ("identification friend or foe") land-based vehicle antennas. _ Stealth aircraft antenna replacements. _ Broad band jamming equipment including for spread-spectrum emitters. _ ECM (electronic counter-measure) antennas. _ Phased array element replacements. _ EMI/ECI mitigation. _ Detection and tracking of ballistic missiles. _ Side and backlobe reduction.

Bibliography
www.ecymag.com Wikipedia IEEE Xplore www.engineers.org.il http://www.pdf-archive.com/timer.php?id=29137 Electronics for you magazine(Aug 2011)-plasma antenna by DR. S.S.Verma