Resonant Upconverter for Energy Harvesting in Low-Frequency and Low-Voltage Regimes

Abstract

In this paper, we have designed a suitable circuit for a harvester, specifically a carbon nanotube-based twistron, characterized by low frequency and low voltage. The entire system consists of a resonant upconversion part using a transformer and a voltage doubler part utilizing an active diode. This system is targeted for a twistron weighing 870 μg and operates when the input voltage exceeds 13 mV. When the input signal amplitude 15 mV and the frequency is 1 Hz, the final rectified voltage is 550 mV, with maximum output power of 1.18 μW. To achieve impedance matching between the harvester and the circuit, the weight of the harvester increases, resulting in a maximum output power of 17 μW, whose power conversion efficiency is 53 % and a rectified voltage of up to 990 mV in the circuit.