AN INVESTIGATION OF ON-CHIP ANTENNA CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TO ENERGY HARVESTING APPLICATIONS

The way a certain antenna operates is highly dependent on the dielectric medium in which it is placed. Dielectric media can be characterized by their dielectric constant, which is also called relative permittivity. When no electric field is applied, the positive and negative charges of the dielectric molecules are evenly distributed. Application of an electric field disrupts this balance and results in the creation of dipoles. The number of dipoles that are created is proportional to the permittivity of the dielectric. Permittivity is a measure of the sensitivity of the material to an applied electric field. Stated another way, permittivity is a measure of how much energy can be stored in the electric field.This thesis reports the research on several types of on-the-chip antennas such as a rectangular spiral and a rectangular patch. The characteristics of these antennas that are useful to Energy Harvesting are analyzed and the effects of permittivity changes in the dielectrics surrounding the antenna are studied