Organic light-emitting devices integrated with solar cells: High contrast and energy recycling

Abstract

In this letter, the authors report that by integrating organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) with solar cells, luminous ambient-light reflection as low as 1.4% (even superior to that achieved with polarizers) can be achieved without compromising the electroluminescence efficiency for high-contrast display applications. Furthermore, in such a configuration, the photon energies of the incident ambient light and the portion of OLED emission not getting outside of the device can be recycled into useful electrical power via the photovoltaic action, instead of being totally wasted as in other reported contrast-enhancement techniques. These features, the authors believe, shall make this technique attractive for high-contrast display applications and portable/mobile electronics that are highly power aware.