Spiral Resonator Arrays for Misalignment Compensation in Wireless Power Transfer Systems

Abstract

In this contribution, the authors focus on the use of a metasurface (physically implemented as a 2D array of spiral resonators) as an additional component of a two-coil Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) system, with the aim of increasing the robustness to misalignment between the transmitter and the receiver coils. Resonator arrays have been proven to have a positive effect on WPT systems’ performance since they produce a focusing effect on the magnetic field; at the same time, they contribute to the reduction of the electric near field. In addition, we herein demonstrate how proper control over the metasurface’s unit cells can contribute to making a WPT system more tolerant to misalignment. In particular, the comparison between metasurfaces of different sizes (keeping the same transmitting and receiving coils) and their optimization performed to improve misalignment robustness is proved by numerical simulations.