Plasmas as antennas: Theory, experiment and applications

In certain applications, the surface wave driven plasma column can replace metal as the guiding medium in radio frequency antennas. Such plasma antennas offer the possibility of low radar detectability and negligible mutual coupling when de-energized. Experimental results are presented confirming that the two most important physical issues, namely antenna efficiency and noise, are not compromised by the use of a plasma. It is also shown that the relatively high efficiency of the surface wave driven plasma column can be predicted by a simple calculation.