Wideband circularly polarized leaky wave rectenna.

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Electromagnetics
• Antenna Theory

Background:

• Radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting is crucial for powering wireless devices.
• Polarization mismatch and limited spatial capture reduce harvesting efficiency.
• Leaky Wave Antennas (LWAs) offer beam scanning capabilities for dynamic RF source tracking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a circular polarized rectenna for efficient RF energy harvesting.
• To integrate a leaky wave antenna (LWA) with a rectifier circuit for the 5G midrange band.
• To enhance energy capture by minimizing polarization losses and extending spatial range.

Main Methods:

• Design and fabrication of a circular polarized leaky wave antenna (LWA) array.
• Integration of the LWA array with a wideband rectifier circuit using an SMS7630 Schottky diode.
• Impedance matching using a wideband compression network for stable performance across 4.1-5.5 GHz.

Main Results:

• The LWA demonstrated a wide beam scanning angle (-21° to 29°) and high gain (9.8 dBi at 5.3 GHz).
• The rectifier circuit achieved effective impedance matching and stable wideband performance.
• The rectenna achieved a maximum DC output voltage of 1.2 V and a conversion efficiency of 53.8% at 4.2 GHz.

Conclusions:

• The proposed circular polarized rectenna effectively harvests RF energy from the 5G midrange band.
• Integration of circular polarization with LWA technology significantly improves energy harvesting efficiency.
• The design offers a promising solution for powering low-power wireless electronic devices.