Efficient design of rectifying antennas for low power detection

This article is dedicated to the design of rectifying antenna for wireless energy transfer at 2.45 GHz in the special case of low input power (typically <;-10 dBm). As the rectifiers present an important non-linear behavior with such power levels, specific design guidelines must be respected in order to optimize the structure. Different rectifying circuits have been studied and their performances have been evaluated through the definition of a Figure of Merit. The effects of the antenna impedance have also been investigated to improve the performances. Two test-circuits have been manufactured and measured to validate the simulation results and to confirm the interest of a global design approach with such rectifying structures.