An Efficient Low-Power Rectifier Using Passive Voltage Boost and Harmonic Feedback Technique

In this paper, a novel rectifier circuit with low-power capacity is proposed by employing a passive voltage boost technique and harmonic feedback technique. The coupled transmission line (CTL) is adopted to boost the voltage across the Schottky diode, which can be beneficial to enhance the dc output power, especially for a low input power case. Besides, it can be noted that the conversion efficiency of the rectifier can be improved efficiently if the harmonic components generated by the diode can be fed back to the circuit. By integrating with two operating mechanisms, the proposed rectifier circuit allows a high conversion efficiency. A prototype has been constructed operating at 0.915 GHz. Simulation results indicate that the rectifier can achieve an RF-to-DC conversion efficiency of 52% for an input power of −6 dBm. Furthermore, it can maintain efficiency consistently over 30% within an input power range of −22 dBm to −3 dBm.