Experimental Investigation on Electromagnetic Attenuation by Low Pressure Radio-Frequency Plasma for Cavity Structure

This paper reports on an experiment designed to test electromagnetic (EM) attenuation by radio-frequency (RF) plasma for cavity structures. A plasma reactor, in the shape of a hollow cylinder, filled with argon gas at low pressure, driven by a RF power source, was produced by wave-transmitting material. The detailed attenuations of EM waves were investigated under different conditions: the incident frequency is 1-4 GHz, the RF power supply is 13.56 MHz and 1.6-3 kW, and the argon pressure is 75-200 Pa. The experimental results indicate that 5-15 dB return loss can be obtained. From a first estimation, the electron density in the experiment is approximately (1.5-2.2) x10(16) m(-3) and the collision frequency is about 11-30 GHz. The return loss of EM waves was calculated using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and it was found that it has a similar development with measurement. It can be confirmed that RF plasma is useful in the stealth of cavity structures such as jet-engine inlet.