Numerical Calculation of High Power RF-DC Cyclotron Rectifier for Wireless Power Transfer

To adapt the wireless power transfer (WPT) to high-power applications, such as space energy transfer and an electric aircraft, a cyclotron rectifier that can convert kilowatt-class microwave power to DC power has been designed. In this paper, the 2D3V particle-in-cell (PIC) calculations for a direction conversion area and a collector are conducted. As a result, the highest calculated efficiency is 90% by multiplying the efficiencies of the two areas. According to the results, the RF-DC efficiency of the cyclotron rectifier is also calculated by combining Vanke’s theory and it is 86%. Moreover, the total transmitting efficiency of the WPT system using the cyclotron rectifier is considered. Assuming the transmitting distance of 10km and a diameter of an antenna aperture of 10 m, the transmitting efficiency of 0.2% at 2.45 GHz, 17% at 28 GHz, and 41% at 94 GHz are achieved.