A Compact and Broadband Rectifier for Ambient Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting Application

Abstract

To collect as much electromagnetic energy from the environment as possible, the corresponding antenna and rectifier are required to have a wide bandwidth. However, the existing broadband rectifiers either have the complex structure or bulky size. To solve these problems, a new broadband rectifier configuration is proposed. A coupled line section and a shorted stub are introduced in a voltage double configuration to guide the harmonic components back to the input for efficiency enhancement at the higher frequency. Subsequently, the bandwidth can be extended. For validation, a wideband rectifier based on Schottky diode SMS7630 had been designed, fabricated and measured. The conversion efficiency of the implemented rectifier is higher than 40% over a relative bandwidth of 110% from 0.9 GHz to 3.1 GHz at the input power level of 0 dBm. Compared with state-of-the-art broadband configurations, the implemented rectifier achieved a wider bandwidth maintaining a compact size.