Gaseous Plasma

P Antenna Array for GP

PS:
Overvview and Development Status
D. Melazzzi1 P. De Carlo2 M. Manente3 D. Pavarin1

Abstract − Gaseous plasma antenna arraays (PAA) constitute a

promising alternative to conventional metallic
m antennas for
applications in which fast reconfigurab bility with respect to
some property (e.g., the gain, the frequeency band) is desired.
In STARLET (plaSma anTennA foR satelLitE s navigaTion)
project, reconfigurable capabilities of plaasma antennas will be
exploited in the design and developmen nt of a PAA for the
reception of GPS and Galileo satellite siggnals. Here we give an
account of the prelimary numerical resultts gathered so far.

1 INTRODUCTION (a)

A Gaseous Plasma Antenna (GP PA) is a plasma

discharge confined in a dielectriic tube, that uses
partially or fully ionized gas to geenerate and receive
electromagnetic waves [1]; plasm ma tubes used as
radiators may come in different shaapes (e.g., loops or
monopoles), whereas the plasma can be generated
through various methods dependinng on the intended
application. Generation techniquues include DC
discharge, Radio-Frequency (RF F) surface wave
plasmas, and laser-initiated atmosphheric discharges.
GPAs are virtually “transparent” above the plasma
frequency and become “invisible” whenw turned off [2].
A group of GPAs and, possibly, metallic
m antennas is
called a plasma antenna array (PAA A). GPAs and PAAs
can be reconfigured electrically with respect to
impedance, frequency, bandwidth and directivity on
time scales the order of microseconnds or milliseconds
[3]. It is also possible to stackk arrays of GPAs
designed to operate at different freequencies. A Smart
Plasma Antenna (SPA) is an array of o plasma antennas
endowed with smart signal processsing algorithms. In
addition to the general advantages mentioned above,
SPAs allow (i) identifying the directtion of an incoming
signal, (ii) tracking and locating the antenna beam on a
m in the direction of
mobile target, (iii) steering the beam
interest while minimizing innterferences. The
STARLET (plaSma anTennA foR satelLitE
navigaTion) research project (“Banndo Tematico n.4,
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana”) aim ms at the design,
development and testing of a gasseous SPA for the
reception of GPS and Galileo satellitte signals.
The STARLET antenna is based onn a beam-switching
concept and exploits plasma dischharge properties to
control highly directional radiation patterns, with
electronical reconfiguration capabiliities.
(b)
Figure 1: Model of the STARL LET antenna: (a) front
view, (b) top view. (1) First (upper) layer, and (2)
second (lower) layer of the antenna, (3) dielectric
housing, (4),(5) plasma eleements for different
polarizations, respectively, turnned on (green, orange)
and off (white).
Fig. 1 shows a pictorial idea ofo the antenna concept.
The antenna is a non-plannar array of plasma
discharges, and it is comprised of two identical layers
(labels n.1 and n.2 in Fig. 1); each layer features an
ensemble of several plasma disccharges, embedded in a
dielectric structure (labels n.3n in Fig. 1). The
discharges are placed with a regular pattern that
emerges from the repetitioon of two mutually
orthogonal plasma discharges foor, possibly, orthogonal
polarization (labels n.4 and n.5 in Fig. 1). With the aid
of a DSP algorithm, the num mber of active plasma
elements and their discharge configurations will be
varied in such a way that the efffective radiation pattern
of the array is reinforced andd steered in a desired
direction while simultaneouslly nulling interfering
signals. In this communication an account is given of
the antenna concept, and the preliminary feasibility
study.

_________________________________________________________________________________________
1
Department of Industrial Engineering, Univversity of Padova, Padova, Italy; e-mail: davide.melazzi@unipd.it.
2
Center of Activities and Studies for Space, University
U of Padova, Padova, Italy.
3
T4i - Technology for Propulsion and Innovaation S.r.l., Padova, Italy.

978-1-4799-7806-9/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE 997


2 NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
The effect of the plasma parameters on the radiation
efficiency and the reconfigurability of plasma
antennas has been analyzed in the frequency domain
- time dependence in the form exp for fields
and sources - with the ADAMANT code [4].
The plasma is modeled as a dielectric with dyadic
permittivity; the plasma is assumed to be cold,
weakly ionized, collisional, and magnetized. In a
system of Cartesian coordinates with confining
magneto-static field , which is aligned with the ̂
axis, the dyadic permittivity reads
antennas has been analyzed by invoking reciprocity;
therefore, the circuit is fed with 1 V in the port
region, which is modeled with the delta-gap
approximation.
To assess the influence of the plasma discharge
parameters on the performance of plasma dipole, we
have considered a preformed uniform plasma
discharge with an electron temperature of 3 eV, and
neutral background pressure of 15 mTorr.

0
0 , (1)
0 0
where

1 (2) Figure 2: Plasma antenna model: the plasma dipole.

1 (3)

1 (4)

with the plasma frequency , the

gyrofrequency ⁄ with the particle
charge sign, the collision frequency . The subscript
refers to the index of the plasma species.
In the numerical experiments described below, we
have considered the plasma antenna pictured in Fig.
1, in which each radiating element is modeled as
shown in Fig. 2. This element, hereinafter referred to
as plasma dipole, is comprised of a cylindrical
preformed plasma column, whose axis is aligned with
the z-axis of the Cartesian system of coordinates, plus
a metallic circuit (placed midway along the plasma
cylinder) for receiving the transmission signal. The
dipole has length and diameter of 15 cm and 0.5 cm,
respectively. Afterwards, we have considered two
plasma dipoles aligned with the z-axis, and placed at
a distance of 15 cm along the x-axis. This
configuration will be referred to as 2-elements
plasma array. Finally, we took into consideration a
3-elements plasma array configuration, comprising 3
plasma dipoles aligned with the z-axis, with a mutual
distance of 15 cm along the x-axis. The metal circuit
(see Fig. 3) is modeled as a Perfect Electric
Conductor (PEC), and it is comprised of two loops
with radius of 1.25 cm and width of 0.15 cm; the
loops are in turn connected by means of a strip with
length and width of 0.7 cm and 0.05 cm, respectively.
The reception performance of the above plasma
Figure 3: CAD model of the circuit used to receive signals.
3 THE PLASMA DIPOLE
3.1 Effect of the uniform plasma density
We have computed the antenna gain function ,
for different values of the plasma density n in the
range 10 10 m-3; the results are shown in Fig.
4. At density higher than 5 · 10 m-3, the gain
pattern is quite similar to that of an equivalent
metallic PEC dipole. Yet, as the density is decreased
below 5 · 10 m-3, the gain pattern of the plasma
dipole antenna departs from that of the ideal PEC
dipole.
3.2 Frequency sweep
We have analyzed the behavior of the plasma dipole
that is filled with uniform argon plasma with density
of 10 m-3, in the range of frequency of the radio
signal from 100 MHz to 2.5 GHz. We have compared
the results with that of a PEC dipole having the same
dimension as the plasma dipole, and working in the
same frequency range. The real and imaginary parts
of the antenna input impedance are plotted in Fig. 5,
while the input, radiated, and absorbed powers are

998
plotted in Fig. 6. It is apparent that the plasma dipole
resonates between 1.5 and 1.6 GHz with a peak at
about 1.56 GHz, where it exhibits a real impedance
of about 1.12 Ω.

(a)

Figure 4: Effect of the uniform plasma density ( ) on the

plasma dipole gain ( , for 90°, 270°).

4 THE 2-ELEMENTS PLASMA ARRAY

We have examined the 2-elements plasma array,

whose elements are filled with uniform argon plasma
with density of 10 m-3, that work in the range of
frequency from 100 MHz to 2.5 GHz. The input,
radiated, and absorbed powers compared to that of an
equivalent PEC array are plotted in Fig. 7. The 2-
(b)
elements plasma array resonates at about 1.6 GHz, Figure 5: Impedance of a plasma antenna working at
showing a peak in the radiated power. This behavior different frequencies compared to a PEC dipole: (a) real part,
is evidenced in Fig. 8, in which the antenna gain and (b) imaginary part.
function , is pictured for different values of
the working frequency, and a plasma density of 10
m-3. It is evident that the gain reaches its maximum
values for = 1.575 GHz. The gain pattern of the 2-
elements plasma array at 1.575 GHz, with a plasma
density of 10 m-3 is shown in Fig. 9.

5 THE 3-ELEMENTS PLASMA ARRAY

We have computed the antenna gain function

, of the 3-elements plasma array, in which the
plasma discharges have a uniform density 10
m-3, and work at a frequency of 1.575 GHz. The gain
pattern is shown in Fig. 10.

Figure 6: Input, radiated and absorbed power of the plasma

dipole compared to a PEC dipole working at the same
frequency.

999

Figure 7: Input, radiated and absorbed power of the 2-
elements plasma array as a function of frequency compared
to a PEC array working at the same frequency.
Figure 8: Effect of the frequency ( ) on the 2-elements
plasma array gain ( , for 90°).
Figure 9: Gain pattern of the 2-elements plasma for a plasma
density of 10 m-3, excited in phase with a voltage of 1 V at
a frequency of 1.575 GHz.
1000
Figure 10: Gain pattern of the 3-elements plasma for a
plasma density of 10 m-3, excited in phase with a voltage
of 1 V at a frequency of 1.575 GHz.
6 CONCLUSIONS
In the framework of STARLET project a gaseous SPA
(schematized Fig. 1) for the reception of GPS and
Galileo satellite signals will be developed and tested.
In this communication, an account is given of the
preliminary numerical analysis of a plasma dipole, and
simple plasma array configurations in the range of
frequencies of interest and for uniform values of the
plasma density in the range from 1018 m-3 to 1019 m-3.
As a result, the plasma density can be reconfigured to
change the resonance conditions, and to achieve higher
values of the radiated power compared to an
equivalent PEC configuration.
References
[1] D. Melazzi, et al., “Numerical Investigation into
the Performance of two Reconfigurable Gaseous
Plasma Antennas”. Proceedings of the 8th European
Conference on Antennas and Propagation, EuCAP
2014. Den Haag (the Netherlands), April 6-11
(2014).
[2] I. Alexeff, et al., “Experimental and theoretical
results with plasma antennas,” IEEE Trans. Antennas
Propag., vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 166-172, 2006.
[3] A. D. J. Fernandez Olvera, D. Melazzi, V.
Lancellotti, “Numerical analysis of reconfigurable
plasma antenna arrays”, Proceedings of the 9th
European Conference on Antennas and Propagation,
EuCAP 2014. Lisbon (Portugal), April 12-17 (2015).
[4] D. Melazzi, V. Lancellotti, “ADAMANT: A
surface and volume integral-equation solver for the
analysis and design of Helicon plasma sources,”
Computer Physics Communications, vol. 185, no. 7,
pp. 1914-1925, 2014.