Graphene-Based Micro-Rectenna

The growing demand for sustainable energy generation has often pointed to solar energy as a very promising alternative. A new way to harvest solar energy is through solar rectennas. These systems are the integration of micro size antennas and nano diodes. In this way, electromagnetic energy can be captured and converted to the form of direct current. The challenges for the development of this technology are due to the submicron sizes since the theory that describes the operation of antennas moves away from classical electromagnetic behavior and incorporates quantum effects. At the same time, diodes operating in tens or hundreds of THz need specific properties. Within this context, this work presents an investigative study on solar rectennas for operation in THz range by using a bowtie antenna and a geometric diode, both based on graphene.