Diode physical-limit-bandwidth efficient rectification

Abstract

Generally, a conventional voltage doubler circuit possesses a large variation of its input impedance over the bandwidth, which results in limited bandwidth and low RF-dc conversion efficiency. A basic aspect for designing wideband voltage doubler rectifiers is the use of complex matching circuits to achieve decade and octave impedance and RF-dc conversion efficiency bandwidths. Still, the reported techniques till now have been accompanied by a large fluctuation of the RF-dc conversion efficiency over the operating bandwidth. In this paper, we propose a novel rectification circuit with minimal inter-stage matching that consists of a single short-circuit stub and a virtual battery, which contributes negligible losses and overcomes these existing problems. Consequently, the proposed rectifier circuit achieves a diode physical-limit-bandwidth efficient rectification. In other words, the rectification bandwidth, as well as the peak efficiency, are controlled by the length of the stub and the physical limitation of the diodes.