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Nanoscale spin rectifiers for harvesting ambient radiofrequency energy

Nature Electronics volume 7, pages 653–661 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Radiofrequency harvesting using ambient wireless energy could be used to reduce the carbon footprint of electronic devices. However, ambient radiofrequency energy is weak (less than −20 dBm), and the performance of state-of-the-art radiofrequency rectifiers is restricted by thermodynamic limits and high-frequency parasitic impedance. Nanoscale spin rectifiers based on magnetic tunnel junctions have recently demonstrated high sensitivity, but suffer from a low a.c.-to-d.c. conversion efficiency (less than 1%). Here we report a sensitive spin rectifier rectenna that can harvest ambient radiofrequency signals between −62 and −20 dBm. We also develop an on-chip co-planar-waveguide-based spin rectifier array with a large zero-bias sensitivity (around 34,500 mV mW−1) and high efficiency (7.81%). The performance of our spin rectifier array relies on self-parametric excitation, driven by voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy. We show that these spin rectifiers can be used to wirelessly power a sensor at a radiofrequency power of −27 dBm.

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Fig. 1: Rf energy harvesting using SRs.
Fig. 2: Performance of SR rectenna.
Fig. 3: Tuning of broadband and resonant rectification.
Fig. 4: Broadband low-power SR-based EHM.
Fig. 5: Comparison of rectification performance between Schottky diodes, SR array and SR rectenna.

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Data availability

Data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code availability

The codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. S.F. is funded by JSPS Kakenhi (24H00039 and 24H02235), MEXT X-NICS (JPJ011438), and JST-ASPIRE (JPMJAP2322). The work at the University of Messina was supported under project no. 101070287—SWAN-on-chip—HORIZON-CL4-2021-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01, project PRIN 2020LWPKH7 funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and by the PETASPIN association (https://www.petaspin.com/) and the MUR-PNRR project SAMOTHRACE (ECS00000022) by European Union (NextGeneration EU). R.S. acknowledges the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for an INSPIRE Faculty fellowship (IFA21-ENG 328).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Raghav Sharma, Tung Ngo, Shishun Zhao, Jiayu Lei, Yong-Xin Guo & Hyunsoo Yang

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Rupnagar, India

    Raghav Sharma

  3. Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Physical Sciences and Earth Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Eleonora Raimondo & Giovanni Finocchio

  4. Department of Engineering, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Anna Giordano

  5. Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Junta Igarashi, Shunsuke Fukami & Hideo Ohno

  6. Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Butsurin Jinnai, Shunsuke Fukami & Hideo Ohno

  7. Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Shunsuke Fukami & Hideo Ohno

  8. Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Shunsuke Fukami & Hideo Ohno

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Contributions

R.S. performed the measurements with the help of S.Z. and J.L. S.F., J.I. and B.J. deposited the stack and processed into devices. T.N. and Y.-X.G. provided help in designing the matched antenna and EHM testing. E.R. and A.G. performed the micromagnetic simulations and prepared the simulation figures. G.F. coordinated the simulation study. R.S., G.F. and H.Y. wrote the manuscript with input from S.F. H.Y. and H.O. initiated the project.

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Correspondence to Hyunsoo Yang.

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Nature Electronics thanks Simon Hemour, Shingo Tamaru and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Notes 1–14 and Figs. 1–15.

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Sharma, R., Ngo, T., Raimondo, E. et al. Nanoscale spin rectifiers for harvesting ambient radiofrequency energy. Nat Electron 7, 653–661 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-024-01212-1

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