An ultra-low-power active AC-DC CMOS converter for sub-1V integrated energy harvesting applications

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and testing of an efficient full-wave CMOS (0.35 μm XFAB) active rectifier suitable for integrated energy harvesters, which typically produce output voltages <;1 V and output power levels of tens of μW. It can rectify input AC signals with amplitudes in the range of 0.5-1.2 V with a maximum conversion efficiency of 94% while providing an output current of 30 μA, an output ripple of 40 mV, and voltage efficiency >95%. The overall power consumption of 300-650 nW is accounted for within the stated efficiency. The rectifier can operate with input signals in the range of 5 Hz-10 kHz.