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Characterisation of a thermionic plasma source apparatus for high-density gaseous plasma antenna applications

Characterisation of a thermionic plasma source apparatus for high-density gaseous plasma antenna applications
Characterisation of a thermionic plasma source apparatus for high-density gaseous plasma antenna applications

A thermionic plasma source apparatus has been developed and characterised for high-density gaseous plasma antenna (GPA) applications. The system produces a cylindrical plasma column which is 100 mm long with a diameter of 8 mm and operates with a total plasma power consumption of 70 to 200 W, depending mainly on the DC discharge current. The plasma column electron density and temperature is measured via microwave interferometry and optical emission spectroscopy. The plasma properties are investigated for Ar, Kr and Xe at pressures from 1 to 4 mbar. The system has demonstrated higher electron densities (>1019 m-3) at low pressures (<2 mbar) than has been experimentally achieved before for GPA applications. This could allow for high gain GPA operation comparable to that of conventional metallic antennas. Additionally, the source has demonstrated operation over a wide range of electron densities, from 2 × 1018 to 1 × 1019 m-3, which can allow for frequency hopping. The plasma columns electron temperature remains around 1.5 eV for argon, largely uninfluenced by the pressure or discharge current. These plasma column measurements obtained are used to analyse the plasma properties influence on GPA performance. This analysis indicates that at high density operation, a gain is achieved which is only 22% lower than that of the conventional metallic antenna. Furthermore, the density ranges demonstrated could enable wide-range frequency hopping of over 100 MHz, with a gain greater than 1.3 dBi.

Frequency hopping, Gaseous plasma antenna, Hollow cathode, Plasma diagnostics, Thermionic plasma source
0963-0252
Daykin-Iliopoulos, Alexander
0caedbac-93a0-45c9-ae31-02f6c70ab8c0
Bosi, Franco
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Coccaro, Fabio
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Magarotto, Mirko
ab27d2d9-ba3a-4fa1-85db-2431a9cae049
Papadimopoulos, Athanasios
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Del Carlo, Paola
3ca8866a-f0fd-428a-a7d9-2c993976e07f
Dobranszki, Cristian
82fe7440-1617-4258-8260-04a1df727924
Golosnoy, Igor O.
40603f91-7488-49ea-830f-24dd930573d1
Gabriel, Stephen
ac76976d-74fd-40a0-808d-c9f68a38f259
Daykin-Iliopoulos, Alexander
0caedbac-93a0-45c9-ae31-02f6c70ab8c0
Bosi, Franco
d35c0d4b-3472-4961-922a-a9951d6ab96a
Coccaro, Fabio
b0b2e670-f351-4bc4-80d8-9af41afdba4e
Magarotto, Mirko
ab27d2d9-ba3a-4fa1-85db-2431a9cae049
Papadimopoulos, Athanasios
e0e117ff-f587-4951-9ff1-53d32b87b271
Del Carlo, Paola
3ca8866a-f0fd-428a-a7d9-2c993976e07f
Dobranszki, Cristian
82fe7440-1617-4258-8260-04a1df727924
Golosnoy, Igor O.
40603f91-7488-49ea-830f-24dd930573d1
Gabriel, Stephen
ac76976d-74fd-40a0-808d-c9f68a38f259

Daykin-Iliopoulos, Alexander, Bosi, Franco, Coccaro, Fabio, Magarotto, Mirko, Papadimopoulos, Athanasios, Del Carlo, Paola, Dobranszki, Cristian, Golosnoy, Igor O. and Gabriel, Stephen (2020) Characterisation of a thermionic plasma source apparatus for high-density gaseous plasma antenna applications. Plasma Sources Science and Technology, 29 (11), [115002]. (doi:10.1088/1361-6595/abb21a).

Record type: Article

Abstract

A thermionic plasma source apparatus has been developed and characterised for high-density gaseous plasma antenna (GPA) applications. The system produces a cylindrical plasma column which is 100 mm long with a diameter of 8 mm and operates with a total plasma power consumption of 70 to 200 W, depending mainly on the DC discharge current. The plasma column electron density and temperature is measured via microwave interferometry and optical emission spectroscopy. The plasma properties are investigated for Ar, Kr and Xe at pressures from 1 to 4 mbar. The system has demonstrated higher electron densities (>1019 m-3) at low pressures (<2 mbar) than has been experimentally achieved before for GPA applications. This could allow for high gain GPA operation comparable to that of conventional metallic antennas. Additionally, the source has demonstrated operation over a wide range of electron densities, from 2 × 1018 to 1 × 1019 m-3, which can allow for frequency hopping. The plasma columns electron temperature remains around 1.5 eV for argon, largely uninfluenced by the pressure or discharge current. These plasma column measurements obtained are used to analyse the plasma properties influence on GPA performance. This analysis indicates that at high density operation, a gain is achieved which is only 22% lower than that of the conventional metallic antenna. Furthermore, the density ranges demonstrated could enable wide-range frequency hopping of over 100 MHz, with a gain greater than 1.3 dBi.

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Accepted/In Press date: 24 August 2020
Published date: 9 November 2020
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords: Frequency hopping, Gaseous plasma antenna, Hollow cathode, Plasma diagnostics, Thermionic plasma source

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 446392
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/446392
ISSN: 0963-0252
PURE UUID: 0f542087-152a-4181-9837-b686daa33786
ORCID for Alexander Daykin-Iliopoulos: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1541-8912
ORCID for Cristian Dobranszki: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9045-4334

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 05 Feb 2021 17:33
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:57

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Contributors

Author: Alexander Daykin-Iliopoulos ORCID iD
Author: Franco Bosi
Author: Fabio Coccaro
Author: Mirko Magarotto
Author: Athanasios Papadimopoulos
Author: Paola Del Carlo
Author: Cristian Dobranszki ORCID iD
Author: Igor O. Golosnoy
Author: Stephen Gabriel

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