MEMS Electrostatic Energy Harvester with Rechargeable Electret by Built-in Corona Tips

This paper presents an electrostatic vibration energy harvester (e-VEH) fabricated by advanced MEMS technology with perforated through-holes and built-in silicon corona tips. The perforated holes distributed on the device could reduce the energy loss due to the air damping and therefore increase the output power of the device. Meanwhile, once the charges of electret decay in harsh environment with high temperature, the integrated tips could effectively recharge it without breaking the packaged device. After self-recharging, the e-VEH device could still harvest energy and successfully light up a LED, which exhibits promising applications for self-powered electronics.