PLASMA SILICON ANTENNA

CONTENTS
PLASMA ANTENNA HISTORY OF PLASMA ANTENNA CLASSIFICATION OF PLASMA ANTENNAS PLASMA SILICON ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY WORKING APPLICATIONS ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES CONCLUSION

PLASMA
Fourth state of matter. Identified by Sir William Crookes, an English physicist in 1879. It is a gas in which atoms have been broken up into free-floating negative electrons and positive ions.

Formed by high temperature, or by application of a high electric or alternating magnetic field.

ANTENNA

Defined as an electrical conductor that radiates radiowaves generated by a transmitter and collect that waves at the receiver.

HISTORY OF PLASMA ANTENNA

An investigation of the wider technical issues of existing antenna systems has revealed areas where plasma antennas might be useful. Plasma antennas provide similar advantages as conventional antennas but at a fraction of the cost, together with much wider bandwidth of operation.

A plasma antenna is a type of radio antenna currently in development in which plasma is used instead of the metal elements of a traditional antenna

CLASSIFICATION OF PLASMA ANTENNAS

PLASMA ANTENNA

GAS PLASMA ANTENNA

[ REFERRED TO AS PLASMA ANTENNAS ]

SOLID STATE PLASMA ANTENNA

[ ALSO CALLED AS PSiAn ]

GAS PLASMA ANTENNA

It consists of ionized gas enclosed in a discharge tube.

When supply is given to the tube, the gas inside it gets ionized to plasma. Plasmas have very high electrical conductivity so it is possible for radio frequency signals to travel through them to radiate radio waves, or to receive them.

PLASMA SILICON ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY

Launched in 2010. Developed by physicists at Plasma Antennas laboratory of Winchester, UK. The main purpose of using PSiAn is because of its ability to operate at higher frequencies, for example greater than 1 GHZ. This works with plasma of electrons instead of ionized gas. It relies on beam-forming technology.

WORKING
A plasma for solid state antenna can be created in 2 ways

1.Solid state plasma antenna can be made from a silicon wafer by first thermally oxidising the surfaces and subjecting the wafer to a high temperature stabilisation process.

2.

Alternatively an array of PIN diodes may be formed on the surface and may be forward biased to create the desired plasma.

At a high enough electron density, each cloud of electrons generated by diodes reflects highfrequency radio waves like a mirror. By selectively activating diodes, the shape of the reflecting area can be changed to focus and steer a beam of radio waves.

GOOD BYE WI-FI, HELLO WI-GIG

Existing Wi-Fi tops out at 54 megabits of data per second, whereas the Wi-Gig standard is expected to go up to between 1 and 7 gigabits per second.

GAS ANTENNA vs PLASMA SILICON ANTENNA

CRITERIA Nature of plasma

A gas is ionized to create Plasma is formed due to a plasma cloud of electrons

Frequency range

only upto 90GHz

1-300GHz

Size

Large

Compact

APPLICATIONS
Ultra-fast wireless communications. Miniature radar system.

US military weapon called pain beam.

ADVANTAGES
Cheaper

Small in size
Narrow dispersion Used for high frequencies

DISADVANTAGES
Operates only at high frequencies Inability to beam through walls

CONCLUSION

PSiAn could be commercially available within a few days. These plasma antennas would allow mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, to achieve high-data-rate transfers.