You are on page 1of 7

www.ietdl.

org
Published in IET Optoelectronics
Received on 15th September 2013
Revised on 14th January 2014
Accepted on 9th February 2014
doi: 10.1049/iet-opt.2013.0108

ISSN 1751-8768

Design of flower-shaped dipole nano-antenna for


energy harvesting
Mohamed Hussein1,2, Nihal Fayez Fahmy Areed1,3, Mohamed Farhat Othman Hameed1,4,
Salah Sabry Ahmed Obayya1
1
Centre for Photonics and Smart Materials, Zewail City of Science and Technology, Sheikh Zayed District,
6th of October City, Giza, Egypt
2
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt
3
Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University,
Mansoura 35516, Egypt
4
Department of Mathematics and Engineering Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516,
Egypt
E-mail: sobayya@zewailcity.edu.eg

Abstract: In this study, a novel design of nano-antenna for energy harvesting is proposed and analysed using three-dimensional
nite difference time-domain method. The new design consists of three elements nano-antenna with elliptical shape and with air
gap. The numerical simulations are investigated for improving the harvesting efciency of the nano-antennas within the
wavelength range from 400 to 1400 nm. The suggested design has high efciency of 74.6% at 500 nm where the irradiance
of the sun is maximum. The proposed nano-antenna shows an improvement in the harvesting and the total harvesting
efciency over the conventional dipole antenna by 15 and 32.7%, respectively.

1 Introduction IR region, through developing solar cell antennas covering


this region [4, 7]. One of the alternative approaches to PV
The worldwide energy demand, during the past years, is technology is the nano-antennas. The concept of
strongly increased and as a consequence the deleterious collecting solar energy from the sun and the earth radiation
effects because of the combustion of fossil are apparent. using nano-antennas essentially relies on the fact that when
Recently, renewable energies give strong contributions to an electromagnetic wave is incident on a nano-antenna, a
power generation without increasing environmental time varying current will be induced on the antenna surface,
pollutions [1]. In particular, solar energy is largely used and hence a voltage will be generated at the feeding point
because it is a freely available source and the technology of the antenna. The generated wave will oscillate at the
utilised to obtain electricity is relatively of low cost [2]. frequency of the incident wave. Consequently, in order to
The solar radiation energy owes its origin to the nuclear obtain DC power, a suitable rectier should be embedded at
fusion reaction in the sun. The resulting energy is emitted the feed point of antenna. These types of energy harvesting
mainly as electromagnetic radiation in the spectral range systems are called rectennas, which basically consist of
0.23 m [3]. The spectral distribution of the solar radiation antennas connected to a rectier that converts the received
which reaches the earth can be approximated by that of a signal to DC power and produce electricity [4, 8]. The
black body at a temperature of 5800 K. About 30% of nano-antennas exhibit a wider angular reception
this energy is reected back to space from the atmosphere, characteristic than that of PV devices. This in turn
19% is absorbed by atmospheric gases and reradiated to the optimises the solar energy collection during day, and thus
earths surface in the mid-infrared (IR) range (714 m) and cancels the need for sun tracking systems [4]. Vandenbosch
51% is absorbed by the surface or organic life and and Ma [9] introduced upper bounds for the solar energy
reradiated at around 10 m [4, 5]. harvesting efciency of nano-antennas. This efciency was
There are several approaches that have been pursued to investigated in terms of the dimensions of the nano-antenna
harvest energy from the sun. The photovoltaic (PV) and the metal (gold, silver, copper, aluminium and
technique is the most common for the conversion of solar chromium) used as a conductor. These results set upper
energy to electricity [6]. The PV solar cell devices are bounds for any possible process transforming the light into
designed to absorb solar energy in the visible region (400 electrical energy. In this regard, the silver exhibited the
700 nm) which constitutes 46% of the solar spectrum [4, 7]. highest efciencies, both in free space and on top of a glass
In this regard, there seems to be a strong need to harvest (SiO2) substrate, with radiation efciencies near or slightly
more solar energy by extending the absorbed range to the above 90% [9].

IET Optoelectron., 2014, Vol. 8, Iss. 4, pp. 167173 167


doi: 10.1049/iet-opt.2013.0108 & The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2014
www.ietdl.org
In this paper, a novel design of ower-shaped dipole
nano-antenna for energy harvesting is introduced and
analysed by using three-dimensional (3D) nite difference
time-domain (FDTD) method [10]. The performance of the
proposed antenna is investigated particularly in terms of the
radiation efciency and energy harvesting. The key issue in
the design of nano-antenna for energy harvesting is to
obtain high efciency around 500 nm where the solar
irradiance is largest. In this regard, the suggested design has
maximum efciency of 74.6% at 500 nm which is more
than twice that of the traditional crystalline silicon wafer
based solar cells in the market. In addition, the reported
design can enhance the efciency of harvesting the solar
energy and total harvesting efciency by 15 and 32.7%,
respectively, over the dipole antenna designed by
Vandenbosch and Ma [9].
The paper is organised as follows. Following this
introduction, a brief description of the nano-antenna
parameters will follow in Section 2. Section 3 presents the
simulated design and the temporal response of the reported
nano-antenna. Finally, conclusion will be drawn.

2 Nano-antenna parameters
The performance of the nano-rectennas depends on the
efciency of light capturing by the nano-antenna as well as
transferring to its terminals. In addition, the capability of
the rectier to transform the captured light into
low-frequency power can affect the behaviour of the
nano-rectennas. Based on the reciprocity theory [11], it is
deduced that the efciency at transmission is similar to that
of the antenna in converting input power, given at its
terminals, into radiation, which is called the radiation
efciency rad of the antenna [9, 11, 12]. In addition, at
small scale, no quantum effects have to be taken into
account, and then the antenna is able to transmit and
receive electromagnetic waves rather than particles. In
effect, the coupling between electromagnetic waves and
nano-antenna is the same as at microwave frequencies.
From the values of the extinction and scattering
cross-sections, based on Mie theory [12], the optical
radiation efciency of nano particles can be expressed as

Csca Csca
hrad = = (1)
Cext Csca + Cabs

where Csca, Cext and Cabs are scattering, extinction and


absorption cross-sections, respectively, that can be
calculated by series expansion of the internal and scattered
elds into a set of partial waves described by vector
harmonics [13].
For energy harvesting applications, and to characterise the
antenna, namely, the total harvesting efciency is used which
is given by [9]
Fig. 1 Conventional dipole nano-antenna
1 a Conventional dipole structure [9]
P(l, T ) h (l) dl
rad
h tot
= 0
1 (2) b Variations of the wavelength dependent radiation efciency using MOM [7]
0
P(l, T ) dl and FDTD techniques at different mesh grid sizes
c Scattered Ez eld magnitude along XY plane
d Absorbed Ez eld magnitude along XY plane
where is the wavelength and P is the Plancks law for black e Current distribution along XY plane
body radiation dened by
  where T is the absolute temperature of the blackbody (in K), h
2phc2 1 is the Plancks constant (6.626 1034 Js), c is the speed of
P(l, T) = hc/lkT (3)
l5 e 1 light in vacuum (3 108 m/s), and k is the Boltzmann

168 IET Optoelectron., 2014, Vol. 8, Iss. 4, pp. 167173


& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2014 doi: 10.1049/iet-opt.2013.0108
www.ietdl.org
constant (1.38 1023 J/K). In the case of solar energy dependent radiation efciency using MOM techniques [9]
harvesting, the temperature T is the temperature of the sun and FDTD method at different mesh grid sizes x = y = z
surface [1]. = . It is revealed from this gure that a good agreement
between MOM and FDTD results at = 10 nm. Therefore,
3 Simulation results mesh grid size will be xed to 10 nm in all simulations
throughout this paper. Figs. 1c and d show the scattering
To validate the simulation results, initially the conventional and the absorbing elds along XY-plane of the conventional
dipole antenna [9] shown in Fig. 1a has been considered. dipole using air substrate. It can be noted from these gures
The conventional dipole antenna [9] consists of two that the elds are concentrated in Ez component therefore
elements of equal length L and height H separated by a the antenna can harvest linearly polarised light. Fig. 1e
distance G. In this investigation, the two elements are made shows the induced current distribution along the metal
from gold with dipole length L = 250 nm, width W = 40 nm, surface of the conventional dipole. It may be noted from
height H = 40 nm and gap G = 10 nm. In this evaluation, the this gure that the majority of the eld is located along the
radiation efciency calculated by the FDTD method is edge. Therefore the conventional rectangular dipole design
compared with that of the method of moment (MOM) is modied in this paper to elliptical shape with elliptical
technique [9]. Fig. 1b shows the variation of the wavelength air gap. In addition, the dimension of the air gap is equal to

Fig. 2 Elliptical dipole nano-antenna


a Proposed elliptical dipole nano-antenna
b Top view of the proposed elliptical dipole nano-antenna
c Scattered Ez eld component along XY plane
d Absorbed Ez eld component along XY plane

IET Optoelectron., 2014, Vol. 8, Iss. 4, pp. 167173 169


doi: 10.1049/iet-opt.2013.0108 & The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2014
www.ietdl.org

Fig. 3 Variation of the radiation efciency of the proposed elliptical dipole with the wavelength at different
a Minor radii of the air gap b2
b Major radii of the air gap a2

the region of minimum eld distribution as shown in Fig. 2a. L = 300 nm (a1 = 150 nm b1 = 48 nm, a2 = 100 nm, b2 = 18
Fig. 2b shows the top view of the proposed structure. Figs. 2c nm), L = 350 nm (a1 = 175 nm b1 = 56 nm, a2 = 133 nm,
and d show the scattering and the absorbing elds along b2 = 21 nm) and L = 400 nm (a1 = 200 nm b1 = 64 nm, a2 =
XY-plane of the proposed elliptical dipole using air substrate. 177 nm, b2 = 24 nm). It is found that the harvesting
The proposed design as shown in Fig. 2a consists of two efciency and bandwidth increase with increasing the
elliptical shape elements with air gap separated by a length of each element L as shown in Fig. 4.
distance G. Each element of height H and length L has Next, the effect of the height H on the nano-antenna
minor and major radii a1 and b1, respectively. However, the performance is studied. In this evaluation, the height of the
elliptical air gap has major and minor radii a2 and b2, antenna element is changed from 40 to 80 nm with a
respectively. The structure geometrical parameters can step of 10 nm. However, the other parameters are xed at
affect the harvesting efciency [9] of the suggested design. a1 = 125 nm, b1 = 40 nm, G = 10 nm, a2 = 100 nm and b2 =
Therefore the effect of the antenna dimensions and gap size 20 nm. Fig. 5 shows the wavelength dependent radiation
on the performance of the reported nano-antenna is efciency at different H values. It is evident from this
investigated thoroughly. gure that the radiation efciency increases with increasing
The impact of the major a2 and minor b2 radii of the air gap the height H up to certain limit where the absorption losses
is rst investigated. However, the other parameters are xed at will cancel the enhancement of the increase of the density
G = 10 nm and H = 40 nm. In addition, the major a1 and wave of electrons. In addition, the harvesting efciency
minor axes b1 of the metals are taken as 125 and 40 nm, shows an effective improvement by increasing the antenna
respectively. First, the effect of the minor radius of the air height.
gap is studied, whereas the major radius is xed at 70 nm. The effect of the gap distance G between the two elliptical
Fig. 3a shows the wavelength dependent radiation elements is also reported, whereas the other parameters are
efciency at different radii of the minor radius of the air xed at H = 40 nm, a1 = 125 nm, b1 = 40 nm, a2 = 100 nm
gap. It is evident from this gure that the optimum value and b2 = 20 nm. Fig. 6 shows the variation of radiation
for the minor radius b2 is equal to 20 nm which efciency of the proposed elliptical dipole nano-antenna
corresponds to the highest efciency and broadest with the wavelengths at different gap distances G. It is
bandwidth. Next, the effect of the major radius a2 of the air
gap is reported, whereas the minor radius b2 is taken as 20
nm. The numerical results reveal that the behaviour is
almost the same for different major radii of the air gap as
shown in Fig. 3b. In addition, maximum harvesting
efciency is obtained at a2 = 80 nm, with a slight change in
the bandwidth of the proposed antenna.
In microwave regime, the electrical length should be equal
to an integer multiple of half the wavelength in order to obtain
the resonance case which is not the case with nano-antennas.
In this regard, the resonance condition is affected by the
length L of each element, radii of the metal ellipse a1 and
b1 and the air gap radii a2 and b2. Fig. 4 shows the
wavelength dependent radiation efciency at different
values of the length of each element L. It should be noted
that for the proposed elliptical nano-antenna, the length L is
equal to the major diameter 2a1. In this paper, the height H
and gap G are xed to 40 and 10 nm, respectively. In
addition, different cases are studied; L = 150 nm (a1 =
75 nm, b1 = 24 nm, a2 = 42 nm, b2 = 9 nm), L = 200 nm Fig. 4 Variation of the radiation efciency of the proposed
(a1 = 100 nm, b1 = 32 nm, a2 = 56 nm, b2 = 12 nm), L = elliptical dipole with the wavelengths at different values of the
250 nm (a1 = 125 nm b1 = 40 nm, a2 = 70 nm, b2 = 15 nm), length L of each elements

170 IET Optoelectron., 2014, Vol. 8, Iss. 4, pp. 167173


& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2014 doi: 10.1049/iet-opt.2013.0108
www.ietdl.org

Fig. 5 Variation of the radiation efciency of the proposed


elliptical dipole with the wavelengths at different dipole height H Fig. 7 Variation of the radiation efciency with the wavelength for
values the conventional dipole [9] and the proposed elliptical
nano-antenna

evident from this gure that the radiation efciency decreases


with increasing the gap distance between the two elements. antenna has a bandwidth from 450 to 1200 nm with
A comparison between the traditional dipole nano-antenna harvesting efciency of 80%.
and the proposed elliptical dipole nano-antenna with air gap, Next elliptical nano-antenna with two elliptical shapes in
in terms of the radiation efciency and total harvesting each element is considered. In this type, each element
efciency, is also demonstrated. In this paper, the consists of two ellipses with the same size and with rotation
dimensions of the traditional dipole nano-antennas are taken angle between their major axes as shown in Fig. 8a. To
as W = 40 nm, H = 40 nm and L = 250 nm. However, the detect the effect of the rotation angle on the antenna
dimensions of the proposed design are xed to a1 = 125 nm, performance, the other parameters are xed to a1 = 125 nm,
b1 = 40 nm, a2 = 100 nm b2 = 20 nm and H = 40 nm. Fig. 7 b1 = 40 nm, a2 = 100 nm, b2 = 20 nm, G = 10 nm and
shows the variation of radiation efciency with the H = 40 nm. Fig. 9 shows the wavelength dependent
wavelength for the conventional dipole and the proposed radiation efciency at different rotation angles, 5, 10,
elliptical shape nano-antenna. It is evident from this gure 15, 20, 30 and 45. It is found that the radiation
that the harvesting efciency of the suggested elliptical efciency is slightly affected by the rotation angle as
nano-antenna is greater than that of the conventional dipole shown in Fig. 9.
antenna. In addition, the investigated nano-antenna has To increase the capability of energy harvesting, a
harvesting efciency of 74.6% at 500 nm where maximum ower-shaped nano-antenna, shown in Fig. 8b, is
irradiance of the sun occurs. Moreover, the obtained suggested. The proposed ower nano-antenna dipole is
harvesting efciency is more than twice that of the composed of three ellipses in each element, with rotation
traditional crystalline silicon wafer based solar cells. This is angle = 10 to harvest energy within the wavelength range
because of the metal thickness and the air gap that acts as a from 400 to 1400 nm. Fig. 10 shows the calculated
cavity which harvests more energy. Therefore the proposed radiation efciency of the conventional dipole antenna [9]
structure improves the radiation efciency and the total and proposed elliptical dipole antennas with one ellipse
harvesting efciency by 10 and 17.7%, respectively. In
addition, the new design reduces the size of the metal used
in the nano-antenna fabrication. Moreover, the suggested

Fig. 8 Schematic diagram of


Fig. 6 Variation of the radiation efciency of the proposed a Elliptical dipole nano-elements with two ellipses in each element
elliptical dipole with the wavelengths at different gap distances b Flower-shaped dipole nano-antenna

IET Optoelectron., 2014, Vol. 8, Iss. 4, pp. 167173 171


doi: 10.1049/iet-opt.2013.0108 & The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2014
www.ietdl.org

Fig. 11 Variation of wavelength dependent radiation efciency of


Fig. 9 Variation of the radiation efciency of the proposed two the proposed ower-shaped dipole at different metals
elliptical elements dipole antenna with the wavelengths at different
rotation angles between two ellipses
obvious high efciency from 800 nm to 1200 nm. This is in
a good agreement with the results for dipole antenna
(type one), two ellipses (type two) and the three ellipses studied by Vadanbosch and Ma [9]. It is also evident form
(ower shaped) in each element. In this investigation, the Fig. 11 that metals with high electrical conductivity such as
dimensions of the traditional dipole nano-antennas are taken gold and silver have much better performance than metals
as W = 40 nm, H = 40 nm and L = 250 nm. However, the with low electrical conductivity such as Al and Cr in the
dimensions of the proposed designs are = 10, H = 40 nm, wavelength range of interest.
G = 10 nm, a1 = 125 nm, b1 = 40 nm, a2 = 100 nm and b2 = In recent practical applications, especially in biophysics
20 nm. It is evident from this gure that the ower-shaped and sensorics, it is essential to take into account the
dipole shows an increase in the radiation efciency and the inuence of the surrounding medium on the optical
total harvesting efciency by 15 and 32.7%, respectively, properties of the nanoparticles [12]. As the proposed design
over the conventional dipole antenna. These results is intended for different applications, the dependence of
considerably agree with the upper bound declared by energy harvesting on the refractive index of the surrounding
Vadanbosch and Ma [9] for nano-antennas. medium is essential in this scenario. Fig. 12a shows
In an attempt to nd a metal that is more abundant and variation of the wavelength dependent radiation efciency
hence considerably less expensive to employ as antenna, of the proposed ower-shaped dipole antenna and the
different metals are tested such as Cr, Al, Au and Ag. conventional dipole antenna using different surrounding
Fig. 11 shows the wavelength dependent radiation mediums, air (nm = 1), water (nm = 1.33) and fused silica
efciency of the suggested ower-shaped dipole at different (nm = 1.46). However, the other parameters are kept
metals. In this paper, the other parameters are xed to = constant at = 10, H = 40 nm, G = 10 nm, a1 = 125 nm,
10, H = 40 nm, G = 10 nm, a1 = 125 nm, b1 = 40 nm, a2 = b1 = 40 nm, a2 = 100 nm and b2 = 20 nm. In addition, the
100 nm and b2 = 20 nm. It is evident from Fig. 11 that the conventional dipole parameters are taken as W = 40 nm,
radiation efciency depends essentially on the metal H = 40 nm and L = 250 nm. It is revealed from Fig. 12 that
conductivity. In this regards, the silver possesses the highest the radiation efciency for the ower-shaped dipole antenna
efciency from 450 nm to 800 nm; whereas gold has decreases with increasing the refractive index of the
surrounding medium.
Fig. 12a also shows that the index of the surrounding
medium has slight effect on the radiation efciency of the
suggested nano-antenna at higher wavelengths. In addition,
the behaviour of the radiation efciency for the suggested
ower-shaped nano-antenna follows the same trend as the
conventional dipole antenna. At 500 nm, the radiation
efciency of the ower-shaped antenna surrounded by air
(nm = 1) shows 40% increase over the conventional dipole
antenna. Additionally, the suggested nano-antenna can
harvest a linearly polarised light over a broad bandwidth
extending from 500 nm to 1200 nm. It is also evident from
Fig. 12a that 15 and 20% improvements in the radiation
efciency of the proposed nano-antenna are obtained with
surrounding mediums of refractive indices 1.33 and 1.46,
respectively, in the wavelength range from 800 to 1200 nm,
over the conventional dipole antenna. Figs. 12b and c show
the captured absorbed elds with air and fused silica
mediums at 550 nm, respectively. It can be observed from
Fig. 10 Variation of wavelength dependent radiation of the these gures that fused silica substrate induces surface
conventional dipole nano-antenna [9] and the proposed elliptical waves which minimise the radiation efciency by about
nano-antennas 20% compared with air substrate.

172 IET Optoelectron., 2014, Vol. 8, Iss. 4, pp. 167173


& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2014 doi: 10.1049/iet-opt.2013.0108
www.ietdl.org

Fig. 12 Variation of the wavelength dependent radiation efciency


a Variation of wavelength dependent radiation efciency of the proposed ower-shaped dipole and conventional dipole antenna at different surrounding mediums
b Absorbed electric eld Ez along XY plane for ower-shaped antenna using air substrate
c Absorbed electric eld Ez along XY plane for ower-shaped antenna using fused silica substrate

4 Conclusion 4 Malinovska, D.D.: The state-of-the-art and future development of the


photovoltaic technologies the route from crystalline to
nanostructured and new emerging materials. Journal of Physics: Conf.
In this paper, a novel ower-shaped dipole nano-antenna for Series, 2010, vol. 253
energy harvesting is presented and analysed using an 5 Sabaawi, A.M.A., Tsimenidis, C.C., Sharif, B.S.: Infra-red
accurate 3D-FDTD method. The proposed ower-shaped nano-antennas for solar energy collection. Loughborough Antennas
design exhibits higher efciency over the conventional and Propagation Conf. (LAPC), 1415 November 2011, pp. 14
6 Sabaawi, A.M.A., Tsimenidis, C.C., Sharif, B.S.: Infra-red spiral
dipole antenna by at least 15%. In addition, the total nano-antennas. Loughborough Antennas and Propagation Conf.
harvesting efciency is enhanced by 32.7%. Moreover, (LAPC), 1213 November 2012, pp. 14
the suggested nano-antenna offers large bandwidth in the 7 Kotter, D.K., Novack, S.D., Slafe, W.D., Pinhero, P.: Solar Nantenna
wavelength range from 450 to 1400 nm. Additionally, the electromagnetic collector. Proc. Second Int. Conf. Energy
ower-shaped dipole nano-antenna has better efciency Sustainability, ASME, Jacksonville, FL, USA, 1014 August, 2008
8 Berland, B., Simpson, L., Nuebel, G., Collins, T., Lanning, B.: Optical
of 74.6% compared with the conventional solar cells at rectenna for direct conversion of sunlight to electricity. National Center
= 500 nm at which the sun irradiance is maximum. The for Photovoltaics Program Review Meeting, NREL, 2001, pp. 323324
obtained results pave the road to higher efciencies in 9 Vandenbosch, G.A.E., Ma, Z.: Upper bounds for the solar energy
transforming light into electrical energy through such designs. harvesting efciency of nano-antennas, Nano Energy, 2012, 1, (3),
pp. 494502
10 Sulivan, D.M.: Electromagnetic simulation using the FDTD method.
5 References IEEE Press Series on RF and Microwave Technology, 2000, pp. 19
11 Ma, Z., Vandenbosch, G.A.E.: Optimal solar energy harvesting
1 Gallo, M., Mesciaa, L., Lositoa, O., Bozzettia, M., Prudenzanob, F.: efciency of nano-rectenna systems, Solar Energy, 2013, 88,
Design of optical antenna for solar energy collection, Energy, 2012, pp. 163174
39, (1), pp. 2732 12 Biagioni, P., Huang, J., Hecht, B.: Nanoantennas for visible and
2 Berland, B.: Photovoltaic technologies beyond the horizon: optical infrared radiation, Rep. Prog. Phys., 2012, 75, pp. 024402
rectenna solar cell, Final Report 1, August 200130 September 2002 13 Dmitruk1, N.L., Malynych, S.Z., Moroz, I.E., Kurlyak, V.Y.: Optical
3 Tipler, P.A., Liewelen, R.A.: Modern physics (4th edn.), W.H. efciency of Ag and Au nanoparticles, Semicond. Phys. Quantum
Freeman and Co., New York, ISBN-10:0716743450, 2002, pp. 132141 Electron. Optoelectron., 2010, 13, (4), pp. 369373

IET Optoelectron., 2014, Vol. 8, Iss. 4, pp. 167173 173


doi: 10.1049/iet-opt.2013.0108 & The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2014

You might also like