GaN Schottky Barrier Diode-Based Wideband and Medium-Power Microwave Rectifier for Wireless Power Transmission

Abstract

This article presents a finger-type gallium nitride (GaN) Schottky barrier diode (SBD)-based microwave rectifier with medium-power capacity and wide power bandwidth. A complete solution including SBD design and fabrication, model extraction, circuit optimization, and demonstration is proposed. The finger-type anode and critical thickness epitaxial layer techniques are adopted to reduce the GaN SBD resistance to 1.9 Ω (0.011 m · cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> ) and achieve nearly constant junction capacitance over a wide range of voltages (17-25V). Revised equivalent models including the effects of large pads, critical thickness epitaxial layer, and finger-type layout are proposed to describe the new features of the SBD. A 2.45-GHz microwave rectifier based on the GaN SBD is designed and measured, having a maximum power and an efficiency of 1.91 W and 78.5%, respectively. The high-efficiency power range (≥70% and ≥75%) is significantly extended to 14 and 10.8 dB. Finally, a wireless clinical examination prototype constructed by a rectifier, antennas, biomedical sensors, and a signal processer is proposed for demonstration. The resulting wireless electrocardiogram shown in computer is clear and stable.