A Study of the Characteristics of a Deformable Antenna Based on Gas Discharge

This paper presents an introduction to a deformable plasma antenna excited by an alternating current power supply at a frequency of 12 kHz. The deformable discharge tube could be transformed into many types of shapes, such as a monopole, U-shape, loop, helix, or plane, by means of a simple mounting and rotating system. The characteristics of the antenna were studied for various discharge parameters and antenna shapes. Experimental results demonstrate that the antenna characteristics, such as impedance, radiation pattern, gain, and polarization, can be simply controlled by varying the discharge parameters and antenna shapes. Compared with a conventional plasma antenna made of hard materials, the reconfiguration scope of the deformable plasma antenna is considerably broader. Moreover, the antenna shape can be modified in a manner that is both flexible and easily implemented.