Tuesday 18 December 2007

Radio Antenna Made of Plasma

A radio antenna made of plasma (electrified gas) could be next generation jamming-resistant transmitter. Sealed glass, ceramic or flexible plastic tubes of electrified gas can behave just like conventional antenna. These antennas only works when energized and vanished when turned off.

Metal antennas can scatter incoming radar signal and thus give away their presence. But, plasma antennas can be powered off after a brief use, thus making them stealthy.
In addition, to counteract jamming attempts, plasma antennas can rapidly adjust which frequencies they broadcast and pick up by changing how much energy the plasma is given. This way, they avoid interference from enemy signals. Metal antennas, on the other hand, are each forced to receive and transmit only a given range of frequencies, making them vulnerable to jamming.

The fact that plasma antennas can get reconfigured to broadcast and receive a wide range of frequencies also means you can create a kind of 'all-in-one' antenna, with one plasma antenna performing the jobs of several metal antennas.

The scientists are also developing a "smart" plasma antenna that can steer a beam of radio waves 360 degrees to scan a region and then find and lock onto transmitting antennas. A comparable radio array using metal antennas would be much larger and heavier

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