Presentation of the research activities of ZeroPower
Energy harvesters are realized thanks to a dual band rectenna (0.9 GHz, 2.45 GHz) able to power a 5μW digital clock. The system is developed on a conformable substrate (Kapton) allowing a better adaptation on the environment and an improvement in terms of portability, weight, and manufacturing cost. As a continuation the team is now focusing on developing metamaterials based antenna for WBAN applications and hybrid energy harvester coupling RF and piezoelectric
The studies concern the conception of photonic crystals (microwaves domain) and electromagnetic behavior of metamaterials
Research focuses on the design of specific equipments for the monitoring of the environment (vegetation, soil, water) using in situ, continuous and non-intrusive electromagnetic measurements. As examples, the data collected makes it possible to improve knowledge of global warming (study of permafrost) or to study the effects of water stress on vegetation. This research also makes it possible to improve the permittivity estimation models of natural environments, essential for the data treatment of space remote sensing missions (SMOS, BIOMASS).
The MIM team has recognized expertise in microwave measurement tools associated with physical propagation or electromagnetic characterization models. Dielectric spectrometry allows to deduce from permittivity other physical quantities such as humidity, salinity or the density of a medium for the nondestructive testing. The team has several measurement and analysis benches over a wide spectral range, from DC to 110 GHz, to characterize a wide range of materials (homogeneous, heterogeneous media, conductive polymers, ceramics, carbon nanotubes, hydraulic concrete, natural media).
