A 3-dimensional stacked metamaterial arrays for electromagnetic energy harvesting

We present the design of 3-D metamaterial stacked arrays for efficient conversion of electromagnetic waves energy into AC. The design consists of several vertically stacked arrays where each array is comprised of multiple Split-Ring Resonators. The achieved conversion efficiency is validated by calculating the power dissipated in a resistive load connected across the gap of each resonator. Numerical simulations show that using stacked arrays can significantly improve the efficiency of the harvesting system in comparison to a flat 2-D array. In fact, the per-unit-area efficiency of the 3-D design can reach up to 4.8 times the case of the 2-D array. Without loss of generalization, the designs presented in this work considered an operating frequency of 5.8 GHz.