Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 74 – 80

6th International Conference on Advances in Computing & Communications, ICACC 2016, 6-8
September 2016, Cochin, India

METAMATERIAL BASED ENERGY HARVESTER

PRANAV U.S.*a,SUDHEESH.S.a,PAUL STANLYa,SONIMA SANKARa,R.DEVIKAa,ANJU PRADEEPb
aB.Tech Student, School Of Engineering, Cochin University of Science And Technology, Kochi-682022
bAssociate Professor, Division Of Electronics, Cochin University of Science And Technology, Kochi-682022

Abstract

The paper presents an approach of energy harvesting from Radio frequency waves. We make use of metamaterials
for this energy harvesting technique. Metamaterials are engineered structures that are not readily available in nature.
They usually gain their properties from structure rather than their composition. RF waves of GSM frequency bands
are captured using metamaterial structure and then it is converted to DC voltage using Schottky diode. Spiral
resonator, which is a metamaterial structure, is used as the energy capturing interface. The proposed method is
simple, user friendly and efficient.

© 2016
2016TheTheAuthors.
Authors.Published
Publishedbyby
Elsevier B.V.B.V.
Elsevier This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICACC 2016.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICACC 2016
Keywords:Metamaterial, spiral resonator, Energy Harvesting

Introduction

Energy can be harvested from the Radio frequency waves available in free space. The captured low power radio
frequency is then transformed to DC using rectifier antennas. Energy Harvester is a device used to convert radio
frequency energy to electrical energy with the help of rectifier circuit attached directly to a regular antenna. The
rectifier antennas or the rectennas use Schottky diodes whose impedance should match with that of the circuit of the
antenna. These diodes put themselves into use here because of their low forward voltage drop. With an optimal
resistance of antenna and diode, it is possible to achieve high radio frequency to DC voltage sensitivity along with
battery efficiency.

*
Pranav U S, +918547477833
pranavpalluruthy@gmail.com

1877-0509 © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICACC 2016
doi:10.1016/j.procs.2016.07.184
 U.S. Pranav et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 74 – 80 75

An energy harvester will be having a matching circuit, a voltage multiplier circuit and a load. The load can be energy
storage or that voltage can be used for other purposes. Fig.1 shows a basic energy harvester. Matching circuit
ensures the smooth and efficient delivery of power. A voltage multiplier is used for the purpose of rectification and
also for boosting.

Fig.1: RF Energy harvester block diagram

The materials which, while interacting with electromagnetic waves changes their electric and magnetic moments
which in turn changes the permeability and permittivity are referred to as metamaterials. They are engineered
materials whose properties are not readily available in nature. Basic property called absorption of metamaterials is
made use of where neither reflection nor transmission of incident radiation takes place1. Different structures of
metamaterials are used namely, split ring resonator, spiral resonator, helical resonator etc. in energy harvesting. In
this paper, Spiral Resonators are used.

1.1 Metamaterials

Metamaterials are new class of artificial materials that are composed of engineered structures. Metamaterials
derived their properties from newly designed structures and not from base materials 2. They are used in controlling
the near field. Unique phenomenon such as negative refraction and evanescent wave amplification have been
realized in metamaterials. The power transfer efficiency of the system can be improved significantly using a
metamaterial structure as interface. The negative index of refraction in metamaterials seems to be powerful and
flexible in achieving the desirable electromagnetic properties in the range from radio frequency to optical
frequency3. The metamaterials which simultaneously gives negative values of permittivity and permeability are also
called negative refractive index / left handed materials. The system with reversed phase velocity and group velocity
i.e. the wave propagation is allowed in the backward direction, shows that negative refractive index is unique to left
handed system. If any of the consecutive parameter is negative, the wave propagation will not take place4. Another
type of metamaterial is absorber intended to effectively absorb electromagnetic radiation.

Fig.2: Absorption curve

76 U.S. Pranav et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 74 – 80

Absorption is where neither reflection nor transmission takes place. Absorption rate is defined as,
Abs= 1-S112– S212
Where S11 is reflection coefficient and S21 is transmission coefficient. If both S11 and S21 is zero, then unity
absorption is obtained. Fig.2 shows the absorption characteristics of spiral resonator used in this work. The
performance of absorber depends on its thickness, morphology and also the materials used to fabricate it.

1.2 Spiral Resonators

The structure made use in this project is a spiral resonator because of its compatible size5. Spiral resonator is a loop
etched or milled on a printed circuit board that has lowest resonant frequency achievable. A spiral resonator is
modelled as a tank circuit. By assuming the current is uniform throughout the spiral, the inductance in the tank
circuit model can be calculated. The parallel equivalent of the capacitances corresponding to each pair of adjacent
loops gives the capacitance. They are series combination of a resistor and an inductor that models the intrinsic
resistor and self-inductance of the corresponding loop. These units are then electrically connected in the same
sequence as that of the physical loops of the spiral(s) are connected. This tank circuit model presumes that spiral
resonators have a single resonant frequency 6. The spiral and its equivalent circuit is shown in Fig.3. The nominal
self-resonant frequency of a resonator is calculated from,

ͳ
݂଴ ൌ 
ʹߨඥ‫ܥ‬ௌோ ‫ܮ‬ௌோ

Fig.3: (a)Spiral resonator (b) its equivalent circuit

Where LSR represents the self-inductance of the loop consisting of n turns formed with lands on a PCB, CSR
represents the equivalent stray capacitance that is distributed between adjacent turns and RSR is the loop resistance
considered as a function of frequency. The spiral resonators are chosen here because of their small electrical size at
resonance, absence of magneto electric coupling and ease of fabrication 7.

1.3 Dispersion Curve

In Fig.4 we have plotted frequency versus phase difference of spiral resonator at resonant frequency 1.6 GHz. As
evident from the graph, structure shows negative phase difference at resonant frequency proving its metamaterial
nature. The dispersion curve of the structure was plotted using MATLAB. Scattering matrices from HFSS
simulation is converted to ABCD matrices whose Eigen vector yielded propagation constant.
 U.S. Pranav et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 74 – 80 77

dispersion curve of spiral

3

2.8

2.6

2.4

2.2
cy,G
n z
H

2
Freqe
u

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

1
-0.04 -0.03 -0.02 -0.01 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
re(Betap)

Fig.4: Plot of phase difference versus frequency

.
1.4 RF Energy Harvesting

Different systems use various power sources. Majority of them use battery as source. But batteries do not yield for a
long time. Since periodical replacement is impossible in the case of wireless sensors placed in remote areas, we go
for a new approach called RF energy recycling. RF energy recycling/harvesting is a process by which the ambient
energy present in the environment is captured and then is converted to useful energy. Energy harvesting can be done
effectively by using metamaterials. The reduced size and efficiency of metamaterial structures makes it an apt
device for such application. An efficient rectenna is needed to use wireless power transmission. Rectenna is a
combination of rectifying circuit and an antenna8. The diode we usually make use of is the Schottky diode due to
their low forward voltage drop. The antenna receives electromagnetic power and the rectifying circuit converts it to
electric power. In our work, Spiral resonator does the energy capturing. It is a small dimension, low cost structure
which is easy to fabricate. According to the position of the probe, input impedance varies which is utilized to
acquire a matched design. The power is then fed to a rectifying circuit. Schottky diode is the main component of
rectifier circuit. The input impedance of the Schottky diode should be able to match with that of the resonator. The
electric field pattern of spiral shows that the maximum field can be obtained at the start and end of the spiral, as
indicated in Fig.5. Maximum captured voltage can be obtained from these two points.

Fig.5: E-Field pattern of spiral

Two spirals are used for the harvesting at 900MHz and 1.8GHz frequencies respectively are shown in Fig.6.From
the resonance plot of 900MHz spiral shown in Fig.7, it is clear that energy is getting trapped at 900MHz.
78 U.S. Pranav et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 74 – 80

Fig.6: Spiral resonators at 900MHz & 1.8GHz, w=0.7809mm, g=0.7809mm

Fig.7: Resonance plot of 900MHz

Spiral shows good impedance matching characteristics and compact size. To confirm our idea of harvesting, diode
HSMS 2860, is connected across the ends of the spiral structure and the voltage readings were taken using the test
patch antenna as source. As shown in Fig 8, a maximum reading of 190.3 mV was obtained. This proved that the
designed metamaterial structure could be used as an energy harvester.

Fig.8: Testing of spiral Energy harvester using patch antenna

 U.S. Pranav et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 74 – 80 79

The spiral structures were scaled to different dimensions for harvesting of GSM band (mainly 900 MHz and 1.8
GHz) as in Fig.6. Different mobile phones working in GSM band were tested as source for the harvester. Different
harvested voltage values for the corresponding frequencies are shown in Table.1. The readings are taken by placing
a 100 ohm resistor as load.

Table.1: Harvested voltages

^ĞƌǀŝĐĞ
DŽďŝůĞDŽĚĞů WƌŽǀŝĚĞƌ sŽůƚĂŐĞ;ŵǀͿ
EŽŬŝĂ>ƵŵŝĂϱϮϱ ^E> ϲϰ͘ϴϲ
^h^njĞŶĨŽŶĞϮ dĂƚĂŽŽDŽ ϭϮ͘Ϯϱ
zƵƉŚŽƌŝĂ ŝƌƚĞů ϲ͘Ϯ
EŽŬŝĂϭϬϬ /ĚĞĂ ϵϳ͘ϵϯ
EŽŬŝĂϭϬϴ ^E> ϭϮϲ͘ϵϯ
^h^njĞŶĨŽŶĞϰ͘ϱ /ĚĞĂ ϭϭϭ͘ϯϲϳ
^ĂŵƐƵŶŐƉŽĐŬĞƚ ^E> ϱϳ͘ϯϯ
^ĂŵƐƵŶŐϱ /ĚĞĂ ϯϲ͘Ϯϲ
ZĞĚŵŝDŝϰŝ /ĚĞĂ ϱϭ͘ϱϲ
EŽŬŝĂϯϭϭ dĂƚĂŽŽDŽ ϱϲ͘ϰ
'ŝŽŶĞĞWϮ^ ^E> ϮϬ͘ϱ
^ĂŵƐƵŶŐϭϬϳϬd ^E> ϲϴ͘ϵϯ
>ĞŶŽǀŽ^ϲϲϬ ^E> ϲ͘ϰ
^ĂŵƐƵŶŐƐĚƵŽƐ ^E> ϯϲ͘ϭϯ
^ĂŵƐƵŶŐ'd/ϴϮϲϮ ^E> ϯϮ͘Ϭϯ
^h^dϬϬ: ^E> ϯϳ͘ϴ
^ĂŵƐƵŶŐ'ϯϲϬ,ĐŽƌĞƉƌŝŵĞ ŝƌƚĞů ϭϴ
'ŝŽŶĞĞWϮ ^E> ϳϯ͘ϴϱ
ZĞĚŵŝ,DŶŽƚĞϭ^ ^E> ϰ͘Ϯϲϳ
^ĂŵƐƵŶŐ'ĂůĂdžLJz'd^ϱϴϯϬϴ ŝƌƚĞů ϰ͘Ϯϲ
DŝĐƌŽŵĂdžϭϬϲ ^E> ϵ͘ϲϯ
^ĂŵƐƵŶŐ^ĚƵŽƐ'd^ϳϱϲϮ sŽĚĂĨŽŶĞ ϭϰϱ͘ϳϯ
DŽƚŽ'ƐĞĐŽŶĚ'ĞŶĞƌĂƚŝŽŶ ŝƌƚĞů ϭϯ͘ϳϯ
>ĞŶŽǀŽϲϬϬϬƉůƵƐ ^E> ϭϬ͘ϭϳϱ
EŽŬŝĂyϲ /ĚĞĂ ϴϲ͘ϳ
zƵƌĞŬĂWůƵƐ ŝƌƚĞů ϵ͘ϯ
>ĞŶŽǀŽ^ϴϱϬ ^E> ϰ͘ϰϲϳ
EŽŬŝĂ>ƵŵŝĂϱϮϬ dĂƚĂŽŽDŽ ϰϬ͘ϰϯ
DŽƚŽ'ƚŚŝƌĚŐĞŶĞƌĂƚŝŽŶ dĂƚĂŽŽDŽ ϭϯ͘ϵϯ
>ĞŶŽǀŽϳϬϬϬ /ĚĞĂ ϮϬ͘ϴϲϳ
^ĂŵƐƵŶŐ'dϵϯϬϬ/ /ĚĞĂ ϭϰ͘Ϯ
DŝĐƌŽƐŽĨƚ>ƵŵŝĂϱϰϬ ŝƌƚĞů ϭϴ͘ϴ
80 U.S. Pranav et al. / Procedia Computer Science 93 (2016) 74 – 80

Conclusion

Frequency of 2G spectrum i.e. GSM band was successfully harvested using metamaterial spiral resonator. The
harvested voltage value depends on the charge available in the phone, distance from the tower and also the
orientation of the metamaterial harvester structure on the mobile phone. It also depends on the carrier the customer
uses i.e. Airtel, BSNL, TATA DoCoMo etc.
We have used a single rectifying diode which gives a small rectified voltage. Instead we can use voltage
multipliers and also a capacitor can be used to charge a battery.

Reference

1. J. A. G. Akkermans, M. C. van Beurden, Member, IEEE, G. J. N. Doodeman, and H. J. Visser, SeniorMember, IEEE. Analytical Models for
Low-Power Rectenna Design, IEEE Antennas and Wireless propagation letters, Vol. 4, 2005; p.187-190

2. JB Pendry. Metamaterials and the Control of Electromagnetic Fields.TheBlackett Lab, Imperial College London

3. K.Karthick, A.Anandhakumar, Wireless Power Transfer: Metamaterials and Array of Coupled Resonators. ECE Dept., Mailam
Engineering College, Mailam, Tindivanam,.

4. David R. Smith and Norman Kroll, Negative Refractive Index in Left-Handed Materials, Volume 85, Number 14 physical review letters 2
October 2000; p.2933-2936

5. Anju Pradeep,PhD Thesis, Investigation on metamaterial based spiral inductor for compact microwave devices, Cochin University of
Science and Technology., April 2015

6. Ellestien, D.; Wang, B. Accurate Models for Spiral Resonators.Teo, K.H., TR 2012-089 October 2012

7. Giovanni Puccetti, UgoReggiani and Leonardo Sandrolini Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering, Guglielmo
Marconi, University of Bologna. Experimental Analysis of Wireless Power Transmission with Spiral Resonators. p.5887-5896

8. Erez Falkenstein, Student Member, IEEE, Michael Roberg, StudentMember, IEEE, and ZoyaPopoviü, Fellow, IEEE. Low-Power Wireless
Power Delivery. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 60, No. 7, July 2012; p.2277-2286