Design and experiments of a high-conversion-efficiency 5.8-GHz rectenna

TLDR

The rectenna uses a dipole antenna and filtering circuitry printed on a thin duroid substrate, a silicon Schottky‑barrier mixer diode with low breakdown voltage, and closed‑form equations for diode efficiency and input impedance, all designed via full‑wave electromagnetic simulation. The 5.8‑GHz rectenna achieves an 82 % RF‑to‑DC conversion efficiency at 50 mW input power, with measured and calculated efficiencies agreeing and second‑harmonic levels 21 dB below the fundamental.

Abstract

A high-efficiency rectenna element has been designed and tested at 5.8 GHz for applications involving microwave-power transmission. The dipole antenna and filtering circuitry are printed on a thin duroid substrate. A silicon Schottky-barrier mixer diode with a low breakdown voltage is used as the rectifying device. The rectenna element is tested inside a waveguide simulator and achieves an RF-to-DC conversion efficiency of 82% at an input power level of 50 mW and 327 /spl Omega/ load. Closed-form equations are given for the diode efficiency and input impedance as a function of input RF power. Measured and calculated efficiency results are in good agreement. The antenna and circuit design are based on a full-wave electromagnetic simulator. Second harmonic power levels are 21 dB down from the fundamental input power.