New Smart Plasma Antenna with Radiation Patterns and VSWR Measurements

In this paper experimental results are presented on the radiation patterns and VSWR of the smart plasma antenna. Because of the restrictions of the use of COTS (commercial of the shelf) plasma tubes these designs are not optimized. In addition antenna beam focusing using refraction through a plasma which would significantly increase the gain is not used here but the results are given in another paper. This concept of creating a smart plasma antenna [1] is to surround a plasma antenna by a plasma blanket in which the plasma density can be varied. In regions where the plasma frequency is much less than the antenna frequency, the antenna radiation passes through as if a window exists in the plasma blanket. In regions where the plasma frequency is high the plasma behaves like a perfect reflector with a reactive skin depth. Hence by opening and closing a sequence of these plasma windows we can electronically steer or direct the antenna beam into any and all directions. The new smart plasma antenna design work concentrated on eliminating issues that have caused our smart plasma antenna to have less than optimal performance. The basic design and concept have not been changed. This paper does not cover plasma lenses [2] and [3], but plasma lenses in conjunction with smart plasma antennas can increase the gain above what the smart plasma antennas alone can provide.