Microelectronic Circuit Design for Energy Harvesting Systems (eBook)

Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio is a Ph.D. in Physics and a Telecommunication Engineer. He has worked on various international projects in the field of gravitational wave research. Working as a software/hardware developer in the data acquisition system, he participated as the designer of the thermal compensation system (TCS) for the optical system used in the Virgo Experiment (an experiment for detection of the gravitational wave). Actually, He works as Technical writer and electronic designer in the X-ray field to design new devices about High Voltage systems and Microbeam for radiobiological and microscopy applications. Di Paolo Emilio is also the author of numerous publications on electronics design, data acquisition system, PCB, IT and embedded system.

Foreword 7
Foreword 9
Preface 11
Acknowledgements 14
Contents 15
1 Introduction 19
1.1 Fundamentals 19
1.2 Sensors and Transducers 21
1.2.1 Temperature Sensors 21
1.2.2 Magnetic Field Sensors 22
1.2.3 Potentiometers 23
1.2.4 Light Detection 23
1.3 Communications Cabling 25
1.3.1 Noise 25
1.3.1.1 Thermal Noise 25
1.3.1.2 Shot Noise and Flicker Noise 25
1.4 Parameters 26
1.4.1 Noise 26
1.4.2 Settling Time 26
1.4.3 DC Input Characteristics 27
References 27
2 The Fundamentals of Energy Harvesting 29
2.1 What's Energy? 29
2.2 Why Energy Harvesting? 30
2.3 Free Energy 31
2.4 Power Management Unit 33
2.5 Storage Systems 35
References 37
3 Input Energy 39
3.1 Mechanical Energy 39
3.2 Thermal Energy 42
3.3 Electromagnetic Energy 44
3.4 Space Radiation 45
3.5 Solar Radiation 46
3.5.1 Photovoltaic Cell 48
References 51
4 Electromagnetic Transducers 54
4.1 Introduction 54
4.2 Electromagnetic Waves and Antenna 54
4.3 System Design 58
References 60
5 Piezoelectric Transducers 63
5.1 Introduction 63
5.2 Materials 63
5.3 Model 64
5.4 System Design 67
References 68
6 Thermoelectric Transducers 70
6.1 Introduction 70
6.2 Seebeck and Peltier Effect 70
6.3 Potential 72
6.4 Charges in a Semiconductor with a Temperature Gradient 72
6.5 Thermoelectric Effect 73
6.6 Thomson Effect 73
6.7 Thermoelectric Generator 74
6.8 Materials 75
6.9 Figure of Merit 76
References 77
7 Electrostatic Transducers 79
7.1 Introduction 79
7.2 Physical Phenomena 80
7.3 Switching System 81
7.4 Continuous Systems 83
7.5 Design 84
References 86
8 Powering Microsystem 89
8.1 Power Conditioning 89
8.2 Rectifier Circuit 92
8.2.1 Bridge Rectifier Circuit 93
8.2.2 Zener Diode as Voltage Regulator 95
8.2.3 Considerations 97
8.3 Piezoelectric Biasing 98
8.4 Voltage Control 100
8.5 MPPT 101
8.6 Architecture 102
8.7 DC-DC Systems 103
8.7.1 Linear Regulators 103
8.7.2 Switching Regulators 104
8.7.3 Buck Converter 105
8.7.4 Boost Converter 105
8.7.5 Buck-Boost Converter 106
8.7.6 Armstrong Oscillator 108
8.8 Load Matching 109
8.9 AC-DC Systems 111
8.10 Electrical Storage Buffer 112
8.10.1 Supercapacitors 114
References 116
9 Low-Power Circuits 119
9.1 Introduction 119
9.2 Review of Microelectronics 119
9.2.1 Basic of Semiconductor's Physics 120
9.2.1.1 Drift 120
9.2.1.2 Diffusion 121
9.2.2 PN Junction 122
9.2.2.1 Reverse Bias 123
9.2.2.2 Forward Bias 124
9.2.3 Diode 124
9.2.4 Bipolar Transistor: Emitter Follower 125
9.2.5 MOS Transistor 130
9.2.6 Differential Amplifiers 134
9.2.7 Feedback 136
9.2.8 Effects of Feedback 137
9.2.9 Digital CMOS Circuits 138
9.2.10 CMOS Inverter 139
9.2.11 Current Mirror 139
9.2.12 Ideal Current Mirror 141
9.2.13 Current Mirror BJT/MOS 142
9.3 Low-Power MOSFET 143
9.3.1 General Characteristics of a MOSFET 143
9.3.2 Mosfet Power Control 145
9.3.3 Stage of Amplification 145
9.3.4 Common Source 146
9.4 Analog Circuits 146
9.5 Operational Amplifier 148
9.6 Power Supply and Rejection 149
9.7 Low Noise Pre-amplifiers 151
References 153
10 Low-Power Solutions for Biomedical/Mobile Devices 156
10.1 Introduction 156
10.2 Design of Wearable Devices 157
10.3 RF Solutions for Mobile 159
10.3.1 Ferrite Rod Antenna 159
10.3.2 Circular Spiral Inductor Antenna 161
10.3.3 Folded Dipole 162
10.3.4 Microstrip Antenna 162
10.4 Power Management 163
10.5 Ultra-Low Power 2.4GHz RF Energy Harvesting and Storage System 164
References 166
11 Applications of Energy Harvesting 168
11.1 Introduction 168
11.2 Building Automation 168
11.3 Environmental Monitoring 170
11.4 Structural Health Monitoring 170
11.5 Automotive 171
11.6 Projects 172
11.7 Solar Infrastructure 173
11.8 Wind Energy 175
11.9 Conclusions 175
References 176
Index 179