Abstract-Methods are suggested and tested to measure and optimize the wireless energy transfer efficiency for mid-range (10-100cm) inductive coils with relatively low profile using magnetic resonance. These coils can be used to provide energy for wireless sensors and battery-operated devices. It is shown that for every system, a resonance frequency can be identified where the wireless energy transfer efficiency is optimal. Several prototypes are developed and tested as a proof of validity of the proposed technique. It is also shown that by tuning to the optimum resonant frequency and designing proper matching circuitry, an efficiency of about 25% for moderate profiles can be achieved.
I. INTRODUCTIONWireless energy transfer methods based on near-field coupling (D<λ/2π), where D is the distance and λ is the wavelength) have widely been studied for biomedical implants, wireless sensors and RFID tags [1][2][3][4]. The general goal in these techniques is to transfer the data and required energy to a small terminal in a wireless manner. The major advantage of magnetic energy transfer methods is low sensitivity to its surroundings, which is mainly composed of magnetically neutral material, thus not interacting with the coupled magnetic field. The other, rather more important advantage, compared to radiated energy transfer, is that the magnetic fields are of less health concern. Different tissues in human body are all electrically lossy material and dissipate the energy in form of heat when exposed to electric field, but their permeability is unity; therefore the human body does not interact with magnetic fields.Optimized inductive links have been reported to transfer energy with efficiencies of up to 90% for very short distances (less than 1-3cm) [5]. However, the efficiency of these inductive links drops significantly for longer ranges (decays as 1/r3 [6]). In [7][8], the transmitting and receiving circuitry were forced to tune to a resonant frequency. This approach has been proven to be useful for energy transfer in very short ranges.A wireless non-radiative mid-range (10-100cm) energy transfer method based on inductive resonance was suggested in [9][10][11][12]. Based on this method, the transmitting and receiving circuitry are designed such that they are tuned to a resonant frequency with high quality factors (Q); therefore the distance between the energy emitter and receiver (D) can be increased to multiples of the device characteristic size (L dev ), i.e. D ~ α*L dev (1≤α≤5) , with an efficiency much higher than that obtained by conventional inductive nonresonant coupling methods [8][9][10]. This method is used to empower coils of radii of 30cm with wire cross section of 3mm. An efficiency of 40% for 2m distance was achieved. However, the magnetic coupling between the coils and therefore the energy transfer efficiency decreases significantly as the coil sizes shrink, due to the almost linear relationship between the area of the transmitting and receiving coils and the mutual coupling between two coils, M, approx...