De Santi Carlo, Meneghini Matteo, Caria Alessandro, Dogmus Ezgi, Zegaoui Malek, Medjdoub Farid, Kalinic Boris, Cesca Tiziana, Meneghesso Gaudenzio, Zanoni Enrico
Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Centro Giorgio Levi Cases, University of Padova, via Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Materials (Basel). 2018 Jan 17;11(1):153. doi: 10.3390/ma11010153.
The aim of this work is to present a potential application of gallium nitride-based optoelectronic devices. By using a laser diode and a photodetector, we designed and demonstrated a free-space compact and lightweight wireless power transfer system, whose efficiency is limited by the efficiency of the receiver. We analyzed the effect of the electrical load, temperature, partial absorption and optical excitation distribution on the efficiency, by identifying heating and band-filling as the most impactful processes. By comparing the final demonstrator with a commercial RF-based Qi system, we conclude that the efficiency is still low at close range, but is promising in medium to long range applications. Efficiency may not be a limiting factor, since this concept can enable entirely new possibilities and designs, especially relevant for space applications.
