Demonstration of Production of Pull-in Cancellation Voltage Generated by Electret-based Vibrational Energy Harvester and Cockcroft-Walton Voltage Multiplier

In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate a synthesis of a high DC voltage capable of resolving a pull-in state of an electrostatic vibrational energy harvester using a Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier. A booster circuit with 5 ladder stages of diodes and capacitors is made to amplify the AC voltage generated by the energy harvester to develop the release voltage. After oscillating the movable electrodes covered with an electret, a boosted voltage as large as 140 V is experimentally confirmed. It is used as a cancellation voltage for automatically recovering the power generation mechanism when a pull-in occurs in an electret-based energy harvester.