A Compact Ultra-Broadband RF Rectifier Using Dickson Charge Pump

Abstract

In this letter, an ultra-broadband rectifier is proposed and tested to get more RF energy from ambient. The rectifier using the Dickson charge pump increases the bandwidth and improves the dc voltage of the output load. The upper branch uses an inductor in series to counteract the capacitance of the imaginary parts of the diode and at the same time acts as a booster circuit to increase the output voltage. A shunt open-circuit stub acts as part of the matching network, tuning the imaginary part of the input impedance of the high frequency to realize the impedance matching of the ultra-broadband rectifier. The manufactured rectifier is measured and the result shows a fractional bandwidth of 145.5% (0.6-3.8 GHz) with an RF-to-dc power conversion efficiency (PCE) exceeding 40% at 8 dBm input power. And the measured efficiency remains over 50% across the frequency range from 1.6 to 3.4 GHz (including GSM1800, GSM2100, and WiFi). In addition, the rectifier made a maximum conversion efficiency of 66.6%.