Design and measurement of a monopole plasma antenna in the C-band

Unlike metal antennas, an antenna that is composed of plasma can switch its operation/non-operation by turning the plasma on and off. In this paper, we propose a monopole plasma antenna that operates as a radiator in the C-band. The antenna was designed and considered using numerical calculations and measurements. The simulated and measured results were in good agreement. The directivity was similar to that of metal monopole antennas. Measured actual peak gain and radiation efficiency were -0.6 dBi and -5.4 dB, respectively at 4.0 GHz when the plasma was on. Meanwhile, the actual peak gain was -12.7 dBi when the plasma was off. The difference above 10 dB was caused by turning the plasma on/off. Therefore, operational switching of the plasma antenna was experimentally demonstrated in the C-band.