Abstract
Efficiency limits for rectifying (converting AC to DC) incoherent broadband radiation are presented, prompted by establishing a fundamental bound for solar rectennas. For an individual full-wave rectifier, the bound is 2/π. The efficiency boosts attainable with cascaded rectifiers are also derived. The derivation of the broadband limit follows from the analysis of an arbitrary number of random-phase sinusoidal signals, which is also relevant for harvesting ambient radio-frequency radiation from a discrete number of uncorrelated sources.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 193509 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Physics |
Volume | 113 |
Issue number | 19 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 21 May 2013 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Physics and Astronomy