A dual polarization patch rectenna for high power application

A stratosphere radio relay system is being considered for a future communication system. To develop a radio relay platform, microwave power transmission is a good candidate for the energy supply. The Communications Research Laboratory is engaged in developing a rectenna to extract electric power from a transmitted microwave in order to keep flying the stationary platform. A microwave power transmission experiment with an airship which is a candidate for the stationary platform, was carried out as cooperative research between CRL and three other organizations in 1995. It was named Energy Transmission toward High altitude long endurance airship ExpeRiment (ETHER). CRL developed a thin, high-power and high-efficiency rectenna for this joint research. In this paper, we report the characteristics of the rectenna used for ETHER.