Antenna design for RF energy harvesting in wireless power transmission

Depending on the demand for renewable energy, interest in systems that make our lives easier in this field is increasing day by day. Nowadays, low-power devices such as tablets, phones, sensors, etc., without or with batteries, always need energy. For this reason, studies on extending the sustainability of energy in cells and batteries used in devices that require low-power energy are the main area of interest for researchers. There are many electromagnetic waves of different frequencies in the current environment. Some of these waves can be harvested to provide the energy needed, especially depending on the technology used. For this purpose, the energy of these waves in the environment can be made usable by designing a circuit. The important thing is that the energy to be harvested is in the amount and efficiency that can be used. Therefore, it is very important to determine the ambient energy density in terms of the frequency to be harvested. In addition, there is information in the relevant literature that energy density above a certain level threatens human health. At the same time, depending on today's technological developments, it seems that Radio Frequency (RF) power transmission and harvesting techniques have become an alternative method for strengthening next generation wireless networks. The main purpose of energy harvesting from these electromagnetic waves in the environment is to first collect high-intensity ambient electromagnetic waves coming from sources emitting RF waves and then convert the energy in these waves into the required energy form cost-free through appropriate antennas. In this study, the antenna performances of microstrip antennas designed on different ceramic materials are evaluated in the context of basic antenna parameters. In this context, studies on antennas used in RF energy harvesting have generally focused on rectangular-shaped patch antennas. In these studies, the location of the feed point as well as the patch antenna and ground dimensions were calculated and simulated using design equations. In the study, the antennas were designed with three different ceramic materials: FR4, Rogers3006 and Rogers4003C. Electrical parameters such as return loss, standing wave ratio, bandwidth and gain of the designed antennas, simulated at 2.4 GHz frequency, were measured and compared in terms of relevant variables. The designed antennas were produced under laboratory conditions and evaluated and criticized in terms of their compliance with the design values. The results obtained showed that the rectangular microstrip antenna design with Rogers4003C layer made of ceramic materials is suitable and manufacturable in terms of energy harvesting for bands used extensively in wireless communication such as Wi-Fi, cordless phones and baby monitors.