Compact High-Efficiency Broadband Rectifier With Multi-Stage-Transmission-Line Matching

• Published in: IEEE transactions on circuits and systems. II, Express briefs Express briefs, 2019-08, Vol.66 (8), p.1316-1320
• Main Authors: Wu, Pengde, Huang, Shao Ying, Zhou, Wenshen, Yu, Wenwei, Liu, Zhenlong, Chen, Xiaojie, Liu, Changjun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bandwidth; Bandwidths; Broadband; Broadband antennas; Broadband communication; Broadband rectifier; compact low-pass filter; Efficiency; Energy conversion efficiency; Energy harvesting; Frequency ranges; Impedance; Matching; multi-stage-transmission-line matching network; Power transmission lines; Radio frequency; Rectifiers; Schottky diodes; Transmission lines; wireless power transfer
• ISSN: 1549-7747; 1558-3791
• DOI: 10.1109/TCSII.2018.2886432

This brief proposes a compact high-efficiency broadband microwave rectifier for energy harvesting. The proposed rectifier is designed to operate over a broad bandwidth spanning from 2 to 3 GHz and an input power dynamic range from 0 dBm to 10 dBm. In the proposed structure, a compact broadband low-loss matching network and a dc-pass filter with a broad stopband were designed, leading to a high conversion efficiency in a wide frequency range with compactness. For the matching network, low loss and compact size were achieved by strategically choosing and designing three transmission line segments. Moreover, the proposed dc-pass filter is compact and can effectively block broadband RF signal and its in-band high order harmonics. Theoretical analysis and simulations of the proposed structure were carried out. A prototype was fabricated, which demonstrates a broadband bandwidth of 41.5% (2.0-3.05 GHz) where the RF-dc power conversion efficiency is higher than 70% at an input power of 10 dBm. The measured efficiency remains over 45% within 1.9-3.05 GHz when the input power decreases to 0 dBm. The maximum measured efficiency is 75.8% at an input power of 14 dBm.