What Is a Plasma Antenna?
Plasma antennas refer to antennas that use ionized gas as a medium for conducting electromagnetic energy. Plasma antennas can dynamically reconfigure antenna bandwidth, frequency, gain, and directivity characteristics by controlling parameters such as the shape and intensity of the plasma. Compared with traditional antennas, plasma antennas have higher efficiency, lighter weight, smaller size, shorter size, and wider bandwidth.
Plasma antenna
- Chinese name
- Plasma antenna
- Foreign name
- Plasma Antenna
- Conductive medium
- Ionized gas
- Features
- Shorter size and wider bandwidth
- Technology
- Plasma technology
- Plasma antennas refer to antennas that use ionized gas as a medium for conducting electromagnetic energy. Plasma antennas can dynamically reconfigure antenna bandwidth, frequency, gain, and directivity characteristics by controlling parameters such as the shape and intensity of the plasma. Compared with traditional antennas, plasma antennas have higher efficiency, lighter weight, smaller size, shorter size, and wider bandwidth.
- Because the plasma antenna uses a gas form conductive medium, it is more concealed in appearance and fluid mechanics. Many western countries have carried out military research on plasma antennas, and their important scientific research and application prospects are broad.
- Plasma Antenna
- Compared with traditional metal antennas, plasma antennas have unique advantages, including:
- 1) Stealth: When the ionization state is removed, the plasma antenna will not generate backscattered radar waves, nor will it absorb high power that can reduce the effectiveness of the electronic countermeasure.
- An experiment conducted by the Hughes laboratory in the United States showed that the use of plasma technology can reduce the radar cross-sectional area of a 13cm microwave reflector by an average of 20dB in the frequency range of 4-14GHz, that is, the signal strength of the radar's echo is weakened. To the original 1%. U.S. Navy scientists are currently using ionized plasma to develop a radar system that is challenging for weapon design and military tactics. The Naval Institute is implementing a research program called the Agile Mirror, which aims to develop a new type of shipborne and airborne radar that can track signals at much faster speeds than existing radars. Attack missiles and make ships and aircraft more stealthy. Plasma molecular structure has enough free electrons, so it belongs to a kind of high-temperature ionized superconducting gas. The superconducting properties of the plasma used in "agile mirrors" are particularly suitable for the reflection of radar microwaves, which can reflect radar electromagnetic waves like mirrors. The prototype identification has been completed so far. If the radar system of the "Agile Mirror" program is equipped on a fighter aircraft, it can greatly reduce the weight of the aircraft and enable the aircraft to use more advanced guidance systems, avionics and new stealth materials.