Galayko, DimitriDimitriGalaykoBlokhina, ElenaElenaBlokhina2014-02-282014-02-28© 2013 IEE2013-05-19http://hdl.handle.net/10197/5433IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems 2013, 19-23 May 2013, Beijing, ChinaIn this review paper, we discuss the principles of electrostatic (capacitive) vibration energy harvesters and nonlinear techniques that can be applied to improve the performance of harvesters. Electrostatic vibration energy harvesters are devices that contain mechanical resonators driven by ambient vibrations and coupled with conditioning electronic circuits through a capacitive transducer. While the devices can be fabricated using MEMS technology and miniaturised, internal and external nonlinearity and complexity can lead to irregular behavior and impede the analysis of the devices. In this review we give an overview of the capacitive conversion mechanisms, discuss the basic triangular energy conversion cycle in detail and survey the nonlinear techniques that can be employed in these systems.enElectrostatic vibration energy harvesterConference Publication10.1109/ISCAS.2013.65724402014-01-28https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/