Avramenko Diode Circuit Topology for Microwave Energy Harvesting in Goubau Line and Wireless Mediums

Abstract

Wireless energy harvesting at microwave frequencies is a known challenge. The transmission medium to support delivery of a wireless energy is normally an insulator that conducts mainly a displacement current. However, Nikola Tesla has hinted that an electric energy can be transmitted on the surface of a natural medium in the same manner as it propagates in a single-wire transmission line. Armed with this knowledge, we have successfully employed a single-wire transmission methodology to deliver a wireless power over a distance in excess of 2.5 m. The proposed methodology involves the use of modified Avramenko diode configuration (ADC), which is known to be able to rectify an ac power in a single-wire transmission line into a dc voltage. The rectified voltage of an ADC, though small, can be enormously multiplied to boost the yield of the power of the harvested output. The results of our investigation suggest two facts: 1) the RF ground does not need to have any physical connection with the remote power source and 2) the output voltage is weakly dependent of the input current, proving the feasibility of harvesting energy from a transmission medium of high characteristic impedance. The proposed methodology is applicable to virtually all transmission mediums, including a single-wire transmission line, free space, and the air-ground interface.

Keywords

• Electrostatic waves
• displacement current
• stratified ground
• goubau line
• lateral waves
• trapped surface waves