Enhanced ultra-wide band multistage rectifier for pulsed signal power transmission

—This paper presents a multi-sections broad-band radio-frequency (RF) to direct-current (dc) power rectifier for pulsed signal transfer. The power transfer using a pulse allows to use a signal with low power spectral density. The optimal distributed configuration with critical parameters is studied to enhance the efficiency over broadband frequency and wide power range. A five-stage distributed RF-dc converter arrangement with micro-strip transmission line ensures the power harvesting from 100 MHz to 11 GHz. The designed and fabricated circuit is characterized at multi-frequencies of ultra-wide band (UWB). The distributed harvester significantly improves the detected voltage over a wide bandwidth compared to conventional RF detectors. The achieved efficiency with optimized parameters is 48% with five-stage harvester. A maximum dc output of 956 mV is reached at 8 dBm of input power of sinusoidal single tone signal at 1 GHz of frequency. The designed prototype is associated with a square wave signal to show the circuit potential in terms of power transfer. The output voltage can be controlled with input signal level, frequency, as well as the pulse width. For the power transfer circuit, 996 mV of maximum dc output voltage is reached for 1 V of input amplitude at 1 GHz with duty cycle of 50%. The efficiency increases significantly with duty cycle ratio of the input signal. The power harvester associated with a UWB antenna confirms the benefit of using a square wave signal in the case of power harvesting or transfer. © 2021, Electromagnetics Academy. All rights reserved.