A Dual-Output Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting Interface with 86.6% Peak Efficiency at 30 μW and Total Control Power of 160 nW

A thermoelectric energy harvesting interface based on a single-inductor dual-output (SIDO) boost converter is presented. A system-level design methodology combined with ultra-low power circuit techniques reduce the power consumption and minimize the losses within the converter. Additionally, accurate zero-current switching (ZCS) and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) techniques are employed in the control circuit to ensure high conversion efficiency at μW input power levels. The proposed SIDO boost converter is implemented in a 0.18 μm CMOS process and can operate from input voltages as low as 15 mV. The measurement results show that the converter achieves a peak conversion efficiency of 86.6% at 30 μW input power.QC 20160517Mi-So