AVS 62nd International Symposium & Exhibition
    Electronic Materials and Processing Tuesday Sessions
       Session EM-TuP

Paper EM-TuP2
Resistor Thermal Noise Rectification for Energy Harvesting

Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 6:30 pm, Room Hall 3

Session: Electronic Materials and Processing Poster Session
Presenter: Amina Belkadi, University of Colorado at Boulder
Authors: A. Belkadi, University of Colorado at Boulder
S. Joshi, University of Colorado at Boulder
G. Moddel, University of Colorado at Boulder and Redwave Energy
Correspondent: Click to Email
Resistor noise produces real power and can, in principle, be rectified for thermal energy harvesting. For ambient temperatures and above, the peak frequency in the noise spectrum is at least 30 THz, which requires an ultra-high-speed diode for rectification and a quantum-based theory to describe the rectification process. In this study, we analyze harvesting energy through the rectification of resistor thermal noise. The electrical noise spectrum generated by a warm resistor is similar to that from one-dimensional blackbody radiation channeled through an antenna. This allows the use of optical rectenna circuitry and concepts, in the presence of a temperature gradient between the resistor and the diode, by merely replacing the antenna with a resistor. We use the semi-classical theory of photon-assisted tunneling to explain the diode rectification behavior. In contrast to an antenna-coupled diode, using a resistor modifies and may help resolve some optical rectenna challenges such as the RC time constant and optical coherence limitations, impedance matching to the diode, and undesired heating of the diode. However, a key challenge remains: the very low power produced by the hot resistor. This limits the diode rectification efficiency. If challenges of low power and low rectification efficiency are overcome, the concept can be used for applications such as (i) efficient harvesting of energy from waste heat sources and even from the earth, when a suitable heat sink is provided, and (ii) conversion of solar energy either directly or via an intermediate thermal transducer. The fact that conventional photovoltaic devices use only the high energy part of the solar spectrum to produce power places a limit on their conversion efficiency. Therefore, integration of solar cells with a resistor-based thermal noise energy harvesting device could potentially increase the overall efficiency of solar cells.