Overcoming the efficiency limitation of low microwave power harvesting with backward tunnel diodes

Author

Lorenz, Carlos H. P. ; Hemour, Simon ; Wenjun Li ; Yi Xie ; Gauthier, Jules ; Fay, Patrick ; Ke Wu

Author_Institution

Poly-Grames, Ecole Polytech. de Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

fYear

2015

fDate

17-22 May 2015

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

This paper explores, for the first time, the use of high responsivity heterostructure backward tunnel diodes to enhance the conversion efficiency of ambient microwave power harvesters. Progress in advancing the performance of low power rectifiers has been slowed because the maximum possible efficiency using Schottky diodes has been reached. Measurements of RF-to-DC conversion efficiency at -40dBm/2.4GHz are reported in this paper, showing that the backward diode outperforms the HSMS-285B Schottky diode by a factor of 10.5 and the Skyworks SMS 7630 by a factor of 5.5. A narrowband rectifier circuit was designed, fabricated and tested, showing a total efficiency of 3.8% for a 100nW input RF power and 18.2% at 1μW input RF power, at 2.35GHz.

Keywords

UHF diodes; energy harvesting; rectifying circuits; tunnel diodes; RF-to-DC conversion efficiency; Schottky diodes; Skyworks SMS 7630; backward tunnel diodes; conversion efficiency enhancement; efficiency 18.2 percent; efficiency 3.8 percent; efficiency limitation; frequency 2.35 GHz; frequency 2.4 GHz; input RF power; low power rectifiers; microwave power harvesting; narrowband rectifier circuit; power 1 mW; power 1 muW; power 100 nW; Loss measurement; Microwave measurement; Narrowband; Q measurement; Rectennas; Rectifiers; Schottky diodes; Backward tunnel diode; Schottky diode; microwave power harvesting; microwave power rectification; rectenna;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Symposium (IMS), 2015 IEEE MTT-S International

Conference_Location

Phoenix, AZ

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MWSYM.2015.7167070

Filename

7167070