A Dynamic Threshold Cancellation Technique for a High-Power Conversion Efficiency CMOS Rectifier

Power conversion efficiency (PCE) has been one of the key concerns for power management circuits (PMC) due to the low output power of the vibrational energy harvesters. This work reports a dynamic threshold cancellation technique for a high-power conversion efficiency CMOS rectifier. The proposed rectifier consists of two stages, one passive stage with a negative voltage converter, and another stage with an active diode controlled by a threshold cancellation circuit. The former stage conducts the signal full-wave rectification with a voltage drop of 1 mV, whereas the latter reduces the reverse leakage current, consequently enhancing the output power delivered to the ohmic load. As a result, the rectifier can achieve a voltage and power conversion efficiency of over 99% and 90%, respectively, for an input voltage of 0.45 V and for low ohmic loads. The proposed circuit is designed in a standard 130 nm CMOS process and works for an operating frequency range from 800 Hz to 51.2 kHz, which is promising for practical applications.