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PLASMA ANTENNA
By:Prateek Goyal
CONTENTS
PLASMA ANTENNA HISTORY OF PLASMA ANTENNA FEATURES CLASSIFICATION OF PLASMA ANTENNAS GAS PLASMA ANTENNA WORKING PRINCIPLE PLASMA MIRROR APPLICATIONS ADVANCES PLASMA SILICON ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY WORKING ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES CONCLUSION
PLASMA
Fourth state of matter. Identified by Sir William Crookes, an English physicist in 1879. It is a gas in which atoms have been broken up into free-floating negative electrons and positive ions.
ANTENNA
Defined as an electrical conductor that radiates radio waves generated by a transmitter and collect that waves at the receiver.
An investigation of the wider technical issues of existing antenna systems has revealed areas where plasma antennas might be useful. Plasma antennas provide similar advantages as conventional antennas but at a fraction of the cost, together with much wider bandwidth of operation.
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
Features
Ability to focus a single beam. Can communicate signals in very short pulse. Are Reconfigurable for frequency, bandwidth, gain, length of plasma column and radius of glass tube. Can transmit and receive for same apertures if the frequencies are widely separated.
Gas ionizing process can manipulate resistance and when deionised, the gas has infinite resistance and doesnt interact with RF radiation. After sending pulse, it can be deionised and eliminates "ringing effect".
PLASMA ANTENNA
When supply is given to the tube, the gas inside it gets ionized to plasma. Plasmas have very high electrical conductivity so it is possible for radio frequency signals to travel through them to radiate radio waves, or to receive them. When gas is not ionized, the antenna element ceases to exist.
WORKING PRINCIPLE
When supply is given to the tube, the gas inside it gets ionized to plasma.
Antenna generates a localised 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.
PLASMA MIRROR
APPLICATIONS
In high speed digital communication and radar system. In radio antenna. Stealth for military application.
Advances
A computer controlled intelligent plasma antenna has been produced . It has been demonstrated that plasma windows can open in microseconds. It has been found that plasma thermal noise can be less than in a metal antenna
Launched in 2010. Developed by physicists at Plasma Antennas laboratory of Winchester, UK. The main purpose of using PSiAn is because of its ability to operate at higher frequencies, for example greater than 1 GHZ.
WORKING
A plasma for solid state antenna can be created in 2 ways
1.Solid state plasma antenna can be made from a silicon wafer by first thermally oxidising the surfaces and subjecting the wafer to a high temperature stabilisation process.
2.
Alternatively an array of PIN diodes may be formed on the surface and may be forward biased to create the desired plasma.
At a high enough electron density, each cloud of electrons generated by diodes reflects highfrequency radio waves like a mirror. By selectively activating diodes, the shape of the reflecting area can be changed to focus and steer a beam of radio waves.
Existing Wi-Fi tops out at 54 megabits of data per second, whereas the WiGig standard is expected to go up to between 1 and 7 gigabits per second.
The WiGig specification utilizes the unlicensed 60 GHz band worldwide to provide data rates up to 7 Gbps. The WiGig specification is based on the existing IEEE 802.11 standard, which is at the core of hundreds of millions of Wi-Fi products deployed worldwide. The specification includes native support for Wi-Fi over 60 GHz; new devices with tri-band radios will be able to seamlessly integrate into existing 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks. The specification enables a broad range of advanced uses, including wireless docking and connection to displays, as well as virtually instantaneous wireless backups, synchronization and file transfers between computers and handheld devices. For the first time, consumers will be able to create a complete computing and consumer electronics experience without wires
CRITERIA
Nature of plasma A gas is ionized to create a plasma Plasma is formed due to cloud of electrons
Frequency range
1-300GHz
Size
Large
Compact
APPLICATIONS
Ultra-fast wireless communications.
ADVANTAGES
Cheaper
Small in size
Narrow dispersion Used for high frequencies Higher Power Enhanced bandwidth Higher efficiency Lower noise Perfect reflector Low in weight
Disadvantages
CONCLUSION
PSiAn could be commercially available within a few days. These plasma antennas would allow mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, to achieve high-data-rate transfers.