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Area of Science:

  • Physics
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Nonlinear Dynamics

Background:

  • Thermal energy harvesting offers a sustainable power source.
  • Electronic circuits with diodes and capacitors can rectify thermal fluctuations.
  • Previous analytical studies laid the groundwork for numerical investigations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To numerically assess the thermal energy-harvesting capabilities of two distinct electronic circuits.
  • To investigate the influence of temperature, capacitance, and diode quality on energy harvesting.
  • To explore steady-state charge accumulation in circuits with temperature gradients.

Main Methods:

  • Numerical solution of the time-dependent Fokker-Planck equation for a diode-capacitor circuit.
  • Numerical solution of the time-independent Fokker-Planck equation for a two-loop circuit with diodes.
  • Comparative analysis of circuits with diodes versus those with resistors.

Main Results:

  • A series diode-capacitor circuit shows transient charging, with peak charge increasing with temperature, capacitance, and diode quality.
  • A two-loop circuit with diodes at different temperatures accumulates nonzero, opposite steady-state charges on storage capacitors.
  • Circuits employing resistors instead of diodes do not exhibit transient or steady-state charge buildup.

Conclusions:

  • Electronic circuits utilizing diodes can harvest thermal energy, demonstrating charge accumulation under specific conditions.
  • The observed steady-state charge in the two-loop circuit highlights the potential for directed energy flow using temperature gradients.
  • Diodes are crucial for rectifying thermal noise into usable charge, unlike passive resistors.