A Compact Circular Rectenna for RF-Energy Harvesting at ISM Band

With low-power gadgets proliferating, the development of a small, effective rectenna is crucial for wirelessly energizing devices. A simple circular patch with a partial ground plane for RF-energy harvesting at ISM (2.45 GHz) band is proposed in this work. The simulated antenna resonates at 2.45 GHz with an input impedance of 50 omega and a gain of 2.38 dBi. An L-section matching a circuit with a voltage doubler is proposed to provide excellent RF-to-DC transformation efficiency at low power input. The proposed rectenna is fabricated and the results show that the return loss and realized gain have good characteristics at the ISM band with 52% of RF-to-DC transformation efficiency, with an input of 0 dBm power. The projected rectenna is apt for power-up low sensor nodes in wireless sensor applications.

Automated summary

A simple circular patch antenna with a partial ground plane is proposed for RF-energy harvesting at the ISM (2.45 GHz) band. The antenna resonates at 2.45 GHz with an input impedance of 50 ohms and a gain of 2.38 dBi. An L-section matching circuit with a voltage doubler is proposed to achieve excellent RF-to-DC transformation efficiency at low power input. The fabricated rectenna exhibits good characteristics in terms of return loss and realized gain, with 52% RF-to-DC transformation efficiency at 0 dBm power input. This research is important for powering low-power sensor nodes in wireless sensor applications.