Radiation properties of a Gaseous Plasma dipole

Gaseous plasma antennas constitute a promising alternative to conventional metallic antennas for applications in which reconfigurability is desired. By tuning the plasma discharge parameters, e.g., plasma density, antenna properties can be changed dynamically. In this work we report on recent numerical investigations into the characteristics of a plasma antenna as a function of the plasma discharge parameters, viz., plasma density, and magnetostatic field. In addition, the effect of different gasses has been examined. We have used ADAMANT (Advanced coDe for Anisotropic Media and ANTennas) - a full-wave numerical tool based on integral equations - to assess the role played by plasma discharge parameters in shaping the radiation pattern, which is mainly determined by the plasma current distribution. The experimental characterization of the plasma discharge to be used as plasma antenna is briefly presented.