PLASMA SILICON ANTENNA (PSIAN)

Wireless at the speed of plasma

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. A plasma antenna can be used for both transmission and reception. Although plasma antennas have only become practical in recent years, the idea is not new; a patent for an antenna using the concept was granted to J Hettinger in 1919. Early practical examples of the technology used discharge tubes to contain the plasma and are referred to as ionized gas plasma antennas.

PSIAN
Solid state plasma antennas (also known as plasma silicon antennas) with steerable directional functionality that can be manufactured using standard silicon chip fabrication techniques are now also in development. Plasma silicon antennas are candidates for use in WiGig (the planned enhancement to Wi-FI), and have other potential applications, for example in reducing the cost of vehicle-mounted radar collision avoidance systems .

OPERATION
In an ionized gas plasma antenna, a gas is ionized to create a plasma. Unlike gasses, plasmas have very high electrical conductivity. Solid-state antennas differ in that the plasma is created from electrons generated by activating thousands of diodes on a silicon chip.

OPERATION
consists of thousands of diodes on a silicon chip. a cloud of electrons - the plasma - about 0.1 millimetres across. at a high enough electron density, each cloud reflects high-frequency radio waves like a mirror. This "beam-forming" capability makes the antennas crucial to ultrafast wireless applications, because they can focus a stream of high-frequency radio waves that would quickly dissipate using normal antennas.

FOCUSING

BEAM FORMING

ADVANTAGES
As soon as the plasma generator is switched off, the plasma returns to a non conductive gas and therefore becomes effectively invisible to radar. They can be dynamically tuned and reconfigured for frequency, direction, bandwidth, gain and bea mwidth, so replacing the need for multiple antennas. They are resistant to electronic warfare. At satellite frequencies, they exhibit much less thermal noise and are capable of faster data rates. Low cost.

APPLICATIONS
WiGig - Wi-Gig requires higher radio wave frequencies, though: 60 gigahertz rather than the 2.4 GHz used by Wi-Fi. Signals at these frequencies disperse rapidly unless they are tightly focused, which is where PSiAN comes in. Military