All-Polarized Wideband Rectenna With Enhanced Efficiency Within Wide Input Power and Load Ranges

Abstract

The efficiency of a rectenna varies under the influences of receiving polarization tilt angle, operating frequency, input power, and load value in different applications. Yet, no reported rectenna can realize stable efficiency when all these factors vary within a wide range. To solve this problem, an all-polarized rectenna is proposed in this article, composed of a dual-input rectifier and a dual-polarized (DP) antenna. By introducing a novel six-port coupler, the rectifier maintains stable efficiency at wideband, wide input power, and dc load ranges. Moreover, the efficiency of the rectifier keeps stable when the antenna receives power at different polarization tilt angles. Accordingly, a DP antenna with extended bandwidth and 3-dB beamwidth is implemented. Finally, the rectenna is formed. The prototype can maintain beyond 70% of the peak efficiency from 1.7 to 2.5 GHz. At a power density as low as 1 <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">μ</i> W/cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> , efficiency can reach 24.4%. Furtherly, the rectenna is demonstrated by forming a battery-less digital clock. The clock can be powered wirelessly by a WiFi router or cellular base station with maximum distances of 1 or 70 m respectively. Besides, the clock can successfully function under significant transmitting-direction deviation or polarization misalignment between the power source and the rectenna.