Wireless power transfer using multiple near-field plates
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of Michigan
InventorsAnthony Grbic, Steve Young
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A near-field plate is a non-periodically patterned surface that can overcome the diffraction limit and confine electromagnetic fields to subwavelength dimensions. By controlling the interference of the electromagnetic fields radiated by the near-field plate with that of a source, the near-field plate can form a subwavelength near-field pattern in a forward direction, while suppressing fields in other directions, such as those reflected. The resulting unidirectional near-field plate may find utility in many applications such as high resolution imaging and probing, high density data storage, biomedical targeting devices, and wireless power transfer.
Claims18
A method for wireless transfer of power from a transmitting side to a receiving side, the method comprising:
- generating a source field pattern energy from an excitation power source at a focal plane of the transmitting side;
- generating a subwavelength field pattern of energy from a transmitting side near-field plate when the near-field plate is excited by the excitation source, the transmitter side near-field plate being at a distance, d, from the excitation source;
- receiving energy at the receiving side in a desired field pattern received by a receiving side near-field plate positioned to excite a power receiver, where the desired field pattern is formed at a focal plane of the receiving side and from the subwavelength field pattern and the source field pattern, the focal plane of the receiving side being at a distance, L, from the excitation source, and wherein the receiving side near-field plate is positioned at the focal plane of the receiving side;
- and
- converting the received energy into a received power, at a power conversion efficiency.
An apparatus for wireless power transfer from a transmitting side to a receiving side, the apparatus comprising:
- an excitation power source generating a source field pattern energy at the transmitting side;
- a transmitting side near-field plate generating a subwavelength field pattern energy when excited by the excitation source, wherein after traversing a near-field distance, L, the source field pattern energy and the subwavelength field pattern energy form a desired field pattern energy at a focal plane, wherein the desired field pattern energy has a unidirectional subwavelength field pattern when the amplitude of the subwavelength field pattern is increased;
- and
- a power receiver and a receiving side near-field plate at the receiving side, the receiving side near-field plate being positioned at the focal plane and spaced a distance from the power receiver to couple a received energy from desired field pattern energy to the power receiver, wherein the power receiver is configured to convert the received energy into a received power for provision to a load.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.