Interaction of radio frequency waves with cylindrical density filaments: scattering and radiation pressure

The propagation of radio-frequency (RF) waves in tokamaks can be affected by filamentary structures, or blobs, that are present in the edge plasma and the scrape-off layer. The difference in the permittivity between the surrounding plasma and interior of a filament leads to reflection, refraction and diffraction of the waves. This, in turn, can affect the power flow into the core of the plasma and reduce the efficiency of heating and/or current generation. The scattering of RF waves, lower hybrid, helicon and ion cyclotron waves, by a single cylindrical filament, embedded in a background plasma, is studied using a full-wave analytical theory developed previously (Ram & Hizanidis, Phys. Plasmas, vol. 23, 2016, 022504). The theory assumes that the plasma in and around a filament is homogeneous and cold. A detailed scattering analysis reveals a variety of common features that exist among the three distinctly different RF waves. These common attributes can be inferred intuitively based on an examination of the cold plasma dispersion relation. The physical intuition is a useful step to understanding experimental observations on scattering, as well as results from simulations that include general forms of edge plasma turbulence. While a filament can affect the propagation of RF waves, the radiation force exerted by the waves can influence the filament. The force on a filament is determined using the Maxwell stress tensor. In 1905, Poynting was the first to evaluate and measure the radiation force on an interface separating two different dielectric media (Poynting, London Edinburgh Dublin Philos. Mag. J. Sci., vol. 9, 1905, pp. 393–406). For ordinary light propagating in vacuum and incident on a glass surface, Poynting noted that the surface is ‘pulled’ towards the vacuum. In a magnetized cold plasma, there are two independent wave modes. Even if only one of these modes is excited by an RF antenna, a filament will couple power to the other mode: a consequence of electromagnetic boundary conditions. This facet of scattering has consequences on the radiation force that go beyond Poynting's seminal contribution. The direction of the force depends on the polarization of the incident wave and on the mode structure of the waves inside and in the vicinity of a filament. It can either pull the filament toward the RF source or push it away. For slow lower hybrid waves, filaments with densities greater than the ambient density are pulled in, while filaments with lower densities are pushed out, thereby enhancing the density in front of the antenna. In the case of fast helicon and ion cyclotron waves, the direction of the force depends on the plasma and wave parameters; in particular, on the ambient density. The radiation force, in all three frequency ranges, is large enough to affect the motion of a filament and could be measured experimentally. This also suggests the possibility of modifying the edge turbulence using RF waves.

Extensive Air Shower Reconstruction using the timing information from the RF-system of the Astroneu array

The Astroneu cosmic ray telescope is a distributed hybrid array consisting of both scintillator counters and RF antenna detectors used for the detection of extensive air showers (EAS). The array is deployed at the Hellenic Open University campus, on the outskirts of the urban area of Patras in Greece. In the present development phase, the Astroneu telescope includes two stations consisting of 3 scintillation detectors modules (SDM) and one RF antenna while a third station includes 3 particle detectors and 4 RF antennas (3SDM-4RF). In each station, the RF-detectors are operating receiving a common trigger upon a 3-fold coincidence between the particle detectors of the station. In this study we present recent results from the 3SDM-4RF autonomous station related to the estimation of the direction of the incoming cosmic air shower using only the timing information from the 4 RF detectors. The directions of the reconstructed showers using the RF timing are in agreement with the corresponding results using the SDMs timing as well as with the simulation predictions. This verifies that the RF signal emitted from EAS originating form Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR), can be detected even in areas with strong electromagnetic background.

Power Density Measurement within Kaduna North Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

The measurement of possible presence of radiofrequency (RF) radiations from telecommunication base stations was carried out within Kaduna North Area of Kaduna State, to estimate the maximum level of power density from RF radiations to which the member of the populace within specific radius from the base transceiver station (BTS) are exposed to in relation to the existing guidelines to human exposure. Power density S (µWm-2) measurements were made at interval of 20 m to check the exposure level at public locations from 10 RF antenna sites starting from the foot of each BS to distance (radius) of 100 m using Aaronia Spectran HF-4060 Analyser and the electric field strength E (Vm-1) were calculated. The highest and lowest value obtained from measured mean power densities were 108.27 µWm-2 and 94.74 µWm-2 from a distance of 100 m and 40 m respectively. Also, the highest and lowest average electric field strength were 202.03 (Vm-1) and 188.99 (Vm-1) at 100 m and 40 m respectively. The result obtained, indicates that the measured values were far less than the permissible exposure limits for both workers and the general public as set by the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). These results shows that the exposure levels in these areas are low and as such will not pose significant health risks to the people living in the study area.

Characterization of Composite RFID Antennas Based on Thermal Properties: A Survey

In this paper, a comprehensive survey on thermal and geometric design parameters of composite materials utilized in the fabrication of modern RFID systems has been discussed mainly due to its advantages such as lightweight and high strength. Designing of RF antenna setup requires careful consideration of material, geometric and fabrication parameters. Polymer materials were chosen as the substrate and subjected to extensive studies to determine and predict the capability of the miniaturized RFID antenna. The effect of the polymer matrix composite (PMC) material on the antenna parameters such as gain, bandwidth, and return loss is analyzed and realized that improvement in bandwidth and perfection in impedance matching can be further accomplished by employing fractal structure. It is also discovered that the thermal properties affect the impedance and operating frequencies, thus enabling multilayer PMC deploying fractal structured RFID antennas to be used for many applications such as logistics, aerospace, biomedical, and mining.

Structures With Multiple Rigid Configurations Due to Prestress and Unilateral Contacts

This paper presents structures with multiple equilibrium configurations arising from the combination of a state of prestress and unilateral contacts. A design problem is posed where preloaded elastic springs and unilateral constraints are embedded throughout a mechanism. The spring parameters are designed such that multiple target configurations are immobilized due to contact. In each of these configurations, the spring forces maintain compressive reaction forces, immobilizing the structure. Each immobilized configuration can rigidly resist perturbation forces up to some finite magnitude where contact is lost. Hence, this case of multiple configurations in equilibrium due to the combination of prestress and contact is referred to as multi-configuration rigidity. Two examples of structures exhibiting multi-configuration rigidity are presented. First, a four bar linkage with a single kinematic degree of freedom is used to introduce the concept. In the context of the linkage, multi-configuration rigidity is compared to multi-stability, exhibiting the key differences between the two concepts. Then, a 24-degree-of-freedom kirigami surface is presented that can morph between flat and spherical configurations, motivated by RF antenna applications. By embedding torsional springs and fold angle stops throughout the structure, flat and spherical configurations are made rigid. Actuation between the configurations can easily be achieved by snapping the structure between the rigid configurations.

Prototyping an S-Band Conformal Line Array Antenna on a Partial Wing Surface

This paper presents the design, prototyping, and testing of an S-Band conformal array on a partial wing surface. The array elements are series fed microstrip patch antennas fabricated entirely through additive manufacturing (AM) technology using a combination of fused deposition modeling and thermal spray. A robust material set of ULTEM 9085 and copper alloy is used for a good balance of mechanical/environmental robustness and RF performance, while also offering a viable path forward for a future fielded design. The focus of this paper is on AM multi-material fabrication, fundamental print settings and material characterization, and antenna testing. AM characterization coupons are utilized to improve the accuracy of the RF antenna model, which showed excellent agreement with the prototype measurements.

Prototyping an S-Band Conformal Line Array Antenna on a Partial Wing Surface

This paper presents the design, prototyping, and testing of an S-Band conformal array on a partial wing surface. The array elements are series fed microstrip patch antennas fabricated entirely through additive manufacturing (AM) technology using a combination of fused deposition modeling and thermal spray. A robust material set of ULTEM 9085 and copper alloy is used for a good balance of mechanical/environmental robustness and RF performance, while also offering a viable path forward for a future fielded design. The focus of this paper is on AM multi-material fabrication, fundamental print settings and material characterization, and antenna testing. AM characterization coupons are utilized to improve the accuracy of the RF antenna model, which showed excellent agreement with the prototype measurements.

DISTRIBUTION OF 0.2...4.5 keV PLASMA IONS IN SET OF U-2M DISCHARGES

Charge exchange (CX) neutral fluxes were measured by neutral particle analyzer (NPA) in plasma discharges sustained by the W7-X-like radio frequency (RF) antenna in the Uragan-2M (U-2M) stellarator. CX fluxes in pure hydrogen discharge (B0 = 0.36 T, f = 4.926 MHz) in stellarator configuration (effective perpendicular ion temperature TꞱ ≈ 450 eV) is less energetic in comparison with U-2M hybrid configuration (TꞱ ≈ 800 eV). RF discharge in stellarator configuration with helium and hydrogen mixture (B0 = 0.351 T; f = 5.156 MHz, P = 6·10-4Torr) shows more energetic CX fluxes (TꞱ ≈ 1 keV). The ion cyclotron frequency distribution across the U-2M plasma has been studied numerically. These calculations are accompanied by direct measurement of the RF frequency by magnetic sensor. The ion cyclotron frequency is present in plasma bulk of all discharges under consideration.