Design and performance analysis of broadband rectenna for an efficient RF energy harvesting application

Abstract

This article proposes the design of coplanar waveguide (CPW) fed broadband rectenna for radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting application. The rectenna is designed to operate in the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency band of 5.8 GHz. For designing the proposed rectenna, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) dielectric material was used to design, fabricate the CPW fed slot antenna. It was observed that the proposed antenna exhibits the |S11| of −23.43 dB and achieves the peak antenna gain of 8.56 dBi at 5.8 GHz. Secondly, the CPW fed rectifier circuit which comprises of the matching circuit, rectifying unit, and filter was designed. The measured results showed that the |S11| of −19 dB and it was perfectly matched with 50 Ω impedance. Finally, the rectenna was designed by integration of antenna with rectifier circuit. The simulated results showed the maximum RF to direct current (DC) conversion efficiency and the output DC voltage of 88% and 445 mV at the load resistance of 1 kΩ. The measured results show the maximum RF to DC conversion efficiency of 73.4% with the output DC voltage of 540 mV at the load resistance of 1 kΩ.