Analysis of Facet-Loaded Rectangular DR-Rectenna Designs for Multisource RF Energy-Harvesting Applications

In this article, the characteristics of four spiral-facet structures are studied for RF energy-harvesting (RFEH) applications for increasing the harvesting power from the surrounding atmosphere. A rectangular dielectric resonance antenna (RDRA) is selected and placed above an FR4-epoxy substrate. Metallic rectangular spirals are then placed on the dielectric resonator (DR) surface to create resonances with insensitive polarization characteristics. The proposed spirals help provide wideband/multiband characteristics at 4.85, 5.0, 5.5, 5.8, and 6.25 GHz that covers 5G 4.9, WLAN 5.0, WLAN 5.5, Wi-Fi 5.8, and Wi-Fi 6E bands, respectively. The minimum gain achieved is 5 dBi in all possible configurations. A broadband rectifier circuit (4.67-7.0 GHz) with a staircase multistage transmission line matching network (MN) covering all resonant frequencies in various facet-loaded antenna configurations is proposed for RF-to-dc conversion purposes. The rectifier's maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) is achieved as 77.3% at a 13.5 dBm input power level, and the corresponding output voltage is 4.92 V.