Date of Award:

5-1997

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Charles M. Swenson

Committee

Charles M. Swenson

Committee

Kay D. Baker

Committee

Ben Abbott

Abstract

Modern advances in chip design and implementation have provided atmospheric scientists with the tools needed to advance the evolution of atmospheric probes, especially the impedance probe. The impedance probe measures the in-phase and out-of-phase components of the antenna's current with respect to the applied sinusoidal steady-state voltage. Through the integration of super-heterodyne circuitry with previous impedance probe designs, I was able to transfer the in-phase and out-of-phase components of an antenna's impedance in a plasma from 3 MHz to 23.25 KHz. By reducing the frequency of the information signal, it was easier to detect the in-phase and out-of-phase components. The sensitivity of the design was hindered by the inconsistency of the programmable logic chip used to create in-phase and out-of-phase reference signals; however, the overall design concept was proven to work.

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