A reconfigurable monopole antenna with fluorescent tubes by using plasma windowing concepts at 4.9GHz

This research aimed at investigating the performance of plasma windowing concept in terms of radiation pattern, gain and return loss. The antenna structure consists of 12 tubes of commercial fluorescent lamps that containing the mixture of mercury vapour and argon gas which upon electrification, forms plasma. After get sufficient voltage the gas inside the fluorescent tube will ionize to plasma and formed plasma column. When all of the tubes surrounding the antenna are electrified, the radiation is trapped inside. By leaving one or more of the tubes in a non-electrified state, apertures are formed in the plasma shield which allows radiation to escape. The plasma frequency in this experiment is equal to 5.634e11 Hz. This antenna design at 4.9 GHz. The advantages from this research, the design and construction of plasma antenna with fluorescent tubes can be beneficial in term of advancement in antennas technology especially in reconfigurable antenna.