Analysis of radiation performances of plasma sheet antenna

A novel concept of plasma sheet antennas is presented in this paper, and the radiation performances of plasma sheet antennas are investigated in detail. Firstly, a model of planar plasma antenna (PPA) fed by a microstrip line is developed, and its reflection coefficient is computed by the JE convolution finite-difference time-domain method and compared with that of the metallic patch antenna. It is found that the design of PPA can learn from the theory of the metallic patch antenna, and the impedance matching and reconstruction of resonant frequency can be expediently realized by adjusting the parameters of plasma. Then the PPA is mounted on a metallic cylindrical surface, and the reflection coefficient of the conformal plasma antenna (CPA) is also computed. At the same time, the influence of conformal cylinder radius on the reflection coefficient is also analyzed. Finally, the radiation pattern of a CPA is given, the results show that the pattern agrees well with the one of PPA in the main radiation direction, but its side lobe level has deteriorated significantly.