Article
Energy & Fuels
Yang Kuang, Zheng Jun Chew, Tingwen Ruan, Tim Lane, Ben Allen, Bimal Nayar, Meiling Zhu
Summary: This paper presents the design, optimization, and experimental testing of a magnetic field energy harvester (MFEH) that utilizes alternating magnetic fields generated by AC traction return currents in rail tracks to power wireless condition monitoring sensors. The specially designed magnetic core with two flux collectors and an electromagnetic-circuit coupled finite element model were developed to optimize the design, taking into account the influence of eddy current loss in the rail track. The study found that an optimal design should balance effective permeability against eddy current loss.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mircea Dragoman, Martino Aldrigo, Adrian Dinescu, Dan Vasilache, Sergiu Iordanescu, Daniela Dragoman
Summary: This manuscript provides an overview of the implications of nanomaterials in harvesting ambient electromagnetic waves. It highlights the use of oxides, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and molybdenum disulfide as the most advanced electromagnetic harvesting devices due to their unique physical properties. These nanomaterials have the potential to revolutionize the harvesting of energy from the Sun, heat, or the Earth itself in the future.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Zhensheng Chen, Chaoyun Song, Jiahao Zhang, Xuezhi Zheng, Vladimir Volskiy, Peiwen Chu, Guy A. E. Vandenbosch
Summary: A low-cost hybrid textile/PCB wearable rectenna is designed for smart on-body applications. It integrates a textile patch antenna and a highly efficient rectifier on a small PCB substrate, with a miniaturized feeding aperture and an effective integration with the rectifier achieved using LC loading technique. The proposed integration approach reduces cost and simplifies the design, fabrication, and integration of the rectenna. The experimental rectenna prototype achieves a state-of-the-art power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 41% at an extremely low incident power density of 0.4 mu W/cm(2).
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Takuma Hashimoto, Hikaru Nekozuka, Yoshitaka Toeda, Masayuki Otani, Yasuhiko Fukuoka, Toru Tanzawa
Summary: This paper focuses on the low operating power limit and small area of on-chip rectifiers for microwave wireless power transfer (MWPT). RF-DC charge pump rectifiers are able to operate at 920 MHz frequency with a small stage capacitor C-in of 100 fF, resulting in reduced on-chip rectifier area. The design process includes minimizing C-in, determining switching transistors and number of stages, and considering wiring resistance and bonding pad structure. An ultra-low-power diode RF-DC charge pump rectifier with 32 stages is fabricated, achieving a lower input power limit of -31.7 dBm and a small silicon area of 0.011 mm(2). Integration of RF-DC rectifiers in sensor ICs can be further enhanced through advanced technology, such as higher capacitance density MIM capacitors and positioning of switching MOSFETs.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Woosol Lee, Suk-il Choi, Hae-in Kim, Sunghyun Hwang, Saeyoung Jeon, Yong-Kyu Yoon
Summary: This paper presents a metamaterial-integrated high-gain rectenna for RF sensing and energy harvesting applications operating at 2.45 GHz. The integrated rectenna consists of three layers, including an MTM superstrate, a patch antenna, and a rectifier circuit, which together enhance antenna gain and overall efficiency for practical energy harvesting applications in various IoT environments.
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Mohamed M. Mansour, Shota Torigoe, Shuya Yamamoto, Haruichi Kanaya
Summary: This work introduces a high-efficiency, high sensitivity, compact rectifier based on a dual-band impedance matching network for sub-1 GHz license-free applications. The rectifier design optimized for operation at sub-GHz frequency bands (0.9 to 2.4 GHz) achieves a conversion efficiency above 45% with a peak efficiency of 70% at the higher band. Potential applications for wireless RF energy harvesting are highlighted due to the simple design and integration with microwave circuits.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Ognadon Assogba, Abdoul Karim Mbodji, Arnaud Breard, Abdou Karim Diallo, Yvan Duroc
Summary: This article presents a new electromagnetic energy harvesting device, a tri-band rectenna, which is versatile and efficient. It is compatible with widely deployed radio frequency standards and offers good performance in low power and different load conditions.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Jack Kee Yong, Wen Xun Lian, Harikrishnan Ramiah, Kishore Kumar Pakkirisami Churchill, Gabriel Chong, Nai Shyan Lai, Yong Chen, Pui-In Mak, Rui P. Martins
Summary: This article presents a fully integrated tri-band RF energy harvesting system in 65-nm CMOS technology, which can harvest ambient RF energies at 900 MHz, 1.9 GHz, and 2.4 GHz. The system achieves a high power conversion efficiency of over 30% and exhibits a peak sensitivity of-20 dBm at an output DC voltage of 1 V output.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS I-REGULAR PAPERS
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Yathavi Thangavelu, Balakumaran Thangaraju, Maheswar Rajagopal
Summary: Wireless sensors have a significant role in smart city applications, but power supply is a challenge. RF energy harvesting and wireless power transfer can provide power to low-power devices. This paper focuses on enhancing the lifetime of wireless sensor nodes by optimizing SIW antenna using Particle Swarm Optimization. SIW technology enables compact structures and large arrays, resulting in improved efficiency.
AD HOC & SENSOR WIRELESS NETWORKS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Yuchao Wang, Jingwei Zhang, Yidan Su, Xianwu Jiang, Cheng Zhang, Lei Wang, Qiang Cheng
Summary: In this article, a seven-band omnidirectional rectenna is proposed for harvesting RF energy in different frequency bands. The rectenna demonstrates high conversion efficiency and stable performance, making it suitable for battery-free or low-power applications in the real world.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Xiaoqiang Liu, Mingxue Li, Xinkai Chen, Yiheng Zhao, Liyi Xiao, Yufeng Zhang
Summary: This paper presents a compact RF energy harvesting wireless sensor node with integrated antenna, rectifier, energy management circuits, and load on a single printed circuit board. It achieves efficient energy management and has a small size.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Ivona Z. Mitrovic, Saeed Almalki, Serdar B. Tekin, Naser Sedghi, Paul R. Chalker, Stephen Hall
Summary: The quest for utilizing untapped renewable infrared energy sources has spurred significant research efforts into designing, fabricating, and optimizing a self-biased rectenna that operates without external bias voltage. The focus is on the metal insulator metal (MIM) diode, which has fast response time due to femtosecond tunneling process governing current transport. Fabrication of single, double, and triple insulator MIM diodes have been reviewed, with attention to key figures of merit like zero-bias responsivity and zero-bias dynamic resistance. Various oxide combinations have been explored, with sub-nanometer accuracy in oxide stoichiometry and thicknesses seen to optimize responsivity and resistance in advanced rectennas.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Xiaoqiang Liu, Mingxue Li, Xinkai Chen, Yiheng Zhao, Liyi Xiao, Yufeng Zhang
Summary: This paper presents a compact stacked RF energy harvester operating in the WiFi band with multi-condition adaptive energy management circuits. The proposed harvester demonstrates efficient energy conversion and can drive various devices at different distances using a home router as the transmitting source.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Amina Belkadi, Ayendra Weerakkody, Gregor Lasser, Garret Moddel
Summary: Thermoradiative devices can convert low-temperature waste heat to electricity by utilizing infrared rectennas for power generation at room temperature. These devices require high diode conversion efficiency, high coupling efficiency between diode and antenna, and a large array of devices.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Sarath Sankar Vinnakota, Runa Kumari, Basudev Majumder
Summary: This study explores a cost-effective dual-polarized broadband dipole antenna for RF energy harvesting. The 2 x 2 antenna arrangement over an artificial magnetic conductor surface allows for capturing RF energy from both horizontal and vertical polarizations in a multiple-input-multiple-output environment. The antenna is integrated with a single-series rectifier circuit to power an LED, demonstrating the process of capturing RF energy.
IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Sashank Krishnamurthy, Ali M. Niknejad
IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS
(2020)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Lorenzo Iotti, Sashank Krishnamurthy, Greg LaCaille, Ali M. Niknejad
IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS
(2020)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Luya Zhang, Ali M. Niknejad
Summary: This work introduces an integrated sensing platform for clinical EPR spectroscopy, utilizing a LC tank to detect EPR signals and achieve high sensitivity through self-mixing interferometry. A sensor prototype fabricated in 28-nm CMOS achieved significant improvements in power consumption and sensitivity compared to prior arts.
IEEE MICROWAVE AND WIRELESS COMPONENTS LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Sashank Krishnamurthy, Filip Maksimovic, Lorenzo Iotti, Ali M. Niknejad
Summary: A low-power 2.2-2.4-GHz receiver front end for Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications has been developed, featuring a capacitively cross-coupled common-gate low-noise amplifier (CC-CGLNA) and a four-phase switching mixer for RF filtering and matching. The prototype integrated circuit, fabricated in 28-nm CMOS, consumes 580 uW of power for the entire front end, achieving a noise figure (NF) of 11.9 dB, an inband IIP3 of -6.5 dBm, and an out-of-band IIP3 of +3.3 dBm.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Emily Naviasky, Lorenzo Iotti, Greg LaCaille, Borivoje Nikolic, Elad Alon, Ali M. Niknejad
Summary: This article introduces a 71-86 GHz 16-element array receiver ASIC designed for Massive MIMO wireless uplink, with support for up to 16 spatially multiplexed users simultaneously. The ASIC is optimized for low power consumption, achieving high data rates and multiple user connections.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Sashank Krishnamurthy, Lorenzo Iotti, Ali M. Niknejad
Summary: This study introduces a 10-35GHz mixer-first receiver for digital MIMO arrays, proposing techniques to enhance linearity and mitigate charge sharing issues. Detailed simulation results and experiments with an integrated circuit prototype demonstrate the benefits of these techniques, with the receiver also featuring built-in programmability.
IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Lorenzo Iotti, Greg LaCaille, Ali M. Niknejad
Summary: This article presents a locking-range extension technique for injection-locked frequency multipliers used in millimeter-wave local oscillator generation, achieving a significant extension of the locking range through combining parallel injection with class-D tail switching. Theoretical insights into the effectiveness of the proposed technique and comparison with conventional injection techniques are provided. A 28-nm CMOS frequency tripler prototype achieves 57-74 GHz operation with >300 mV differential zero-peak output swing and 11 mW power consumption, without using tuning elements.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Nima Baniasadi, Ali M. Niknejad
Summary: This article revisits the concept of noise measure in designing high-frequency low-noise amplifiers, offering a simpler derivation than the original one by Haus and Adler. Several examples are used to calculate the minimum noise measure of a CMOS amplifier, and it is shown that noise cancellation techniques cannot improve it.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS I-REGULAR PAPERS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Ethan Chou, Lorenzo Iotti, Ali Niknejad
Summary: This paper presents the modeling and design of a static current-mode logic, divide-by-2 frequency divider for mm-wave frequency synthesis. An optimized design procedure based on the RC delay model and insights into the nonlinear mixing conversion gain of the injection-locking model are utilized to design an inductor-less 28-nm CMOS prototype that achieves high maximum input frequency and power-delay product.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS II-EXPRESS BRIEFS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Matthew Giorgis Anderson, Arno Thielens, Stijn Wielandt, Ali M. Niknejad, Jan M. Rabaey
Summary: This paper presents a method for low-power RF beamforming utilizing transmission-line transformers and balanced impedance phase shifters. The method offers advantages of low loss, simplicity, and scalability, and extends the beam-steering range through the introduction of a crossover switch.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Luya Zhang, Ali M. Niknejad
Summary: This study presents a galvanically coupled electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer (GalEPR) for deep tissue oximetry and hypoxia diagnosis. The GalEPR spectrometer achieves a frequency/depth of 14 GHz/50 mm, which is 10 times better than previous methods. This is achieved by galvanically coupling a 30 MHz clock through the body and up-converting it to 14 GHz using a low-power subsampling phase locked loop (SSPLL).
IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS
(2023)
Proceedings Paper
Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture
Ethan Chou, Nima Baniasadi, Hesham Beshary, Meng Wei, Emily Naviasky, Lorenzo Iotti, Ali Niknejad
Summary: This study presents a D-band receiver with integrated local oscillator generation and distribution, designed for digital beamforming arrays. The receiver achieves competitive performance and the highest level of integration among other D-band CMOS receiver wireless links.
ESSCIRC 2022- IEEE 48TH EUROPEAN SOLID STATE CIRCUITS CONFERENCE (ESSCIRC)
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture
Christos Adamopoulos, Sidney Buchbinder, Panagiotis Zarkos, Pavan Bhargava, Asmaysinh Gharia, Ali Niknejad, Mekhail Anwar, Vladimir Stojanovic
Summary: This study successfully demonstrates the real-time monitoring of molecular interactions without labels using a fully integrated biosensing electronic-photonic system-on-chip (EPSoC). This technology has the potential to pave the way for true monolithic lab-on-chip (LoC) photonic sensors for point-of-care applications.
IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS LETTERS
(2021)
Proceedings Paper
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Emily Naviasky, Lorenzo Lotti, Greg LaCaille, Borivoje Nikolic, Elad Alon, Ali Niknejad
2021 IEEE INTERNATIONAL SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS CONFERENCE (ISSCC)
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture
Sashank Krishnamurthy, Ali M. Niknejad
IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS LETTERS
(2020)