Design, Optimization, and Fabrication of an Advanced Infrared Energy Harvesting System

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The increasing energy demands of a growing world population and depleting fossil fuel reserves indicate the urgent need of seeking alternative renewable energy resources. The sun is an abundant source of clean energy whose radiation spectrum consists of ultra-voilet, visible and infrared (IR) regions. This program is about harvesting the Sun's IR energy and transforming it into usable power. The proposal will deliver world class nano-systems through ambitious nano-antenna array design built using nano-science materials and packaging. The proposed system is smart in that it can optimize its performance by sensing the environment and tracking the IR sources via the developed algorithms. The program grant will provide the opportunity to build the foundation for this long-term research effort. ***The short-term goals of this research program fall into three main streams: First, modeling and design of nano-antennas. Maxwell's differential equations will be updated to include dispersive permittivity and permeability. Adjoint sensitivities for dispersive materials will be implemented. With these, broadband sensitivities will be available to the investigation with minimal simulation overhead regardless of the number of parameters of interest. The second stream, use the developed modeling tools using them in investigating different conventional (dipoles, bow-tie, and patch antennas) and non-conventional antenna structures (fractal and multi-feed antennas) as well as testing different materials for their packaging. The developed nano-arrays will be fabricated at the McMaster Micro- Nano-Systems Laboratory (MNSL), a $22.25M state-of-the-art facility funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). Different fabrication processes will be examined. This is to search for optimized tolerance and cost for mass production. ***The third stream includes investigating the elements of the nano-system together to examine tracking algorithms for optimized harvesting capabilities. The systems performance will be measured in metrics such as the reflection and transmissions spectra of the electric field, the antenna EM radiation pattern(s), and power spectra of the nano-antenna where the output of the model is in units of emissivity vs. wavelength. ***The outcomes of this project will benefit Canada in providing much needed technology for energy harvesting. This will have a significant impact on the strategic information technology sector of the Canadian economy. Active student involvement and training are central to the applicant's program. The applicant has strong ties to industry. This grant will enable the training of HQP offering them advancements in career opportunities. The applicant strongly believes that this research proposal will bring intellectual property, knowledge, and potential commercial deployment.