An efficient, compact, wide-angle, wide-band, and polarization-insensitive metamaterial electromagnetic energy harvester

Abstract

This paper introduces a metamaterial energy harvester that is compact, highly efficient, and capable of operating at wide angles. The proposed design has an outer ring resonator housing inverted T-shaped resonators, and it can operate at two distinct frequencies, 3.2 GHz and 5.4 GHz. The structure's impedance is carefully designed to align with that of free space, ensuring efficient capture of incident electromagnetic power with minimal reflection. This enables the resistor load to receive power in the most efficient manner. Based on the simulation findings, the proposed harvester exhibits a notably higher conversion efficiency of around 97 %. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of the simulation outcomes, we fabricated a 3x3 cell array of the proposed design and conducted experimental tests within an anechoic chamber. The simulation and experimental results exhibit a strong correlation. Existing metamaterial-based energy harvesting designs frequently confront size, absorption band, and polarization sensitivity limitations. Our compact design is distinguished by its ability to accomplish near-unity absorption and greater power conversion efficiencies at the desired frequency bands. This makes it an ideal option for energy harvesting systems for wireless sensor networks prioritizing efficiency and size.