Energy-recycling high-contrast organic light-emitting devices

It is reported that by integrating OLEDs with solar cells, ambient-light reflection as low as 1.4% (even superior to that achieved with polarizers) can be achieved without compromising the EL efficiency for high-contrast display applications. Furthermore, in such a configuration, the photon energies of both 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 wasted as in other reported contrast-enhancement techniques. These features, we believe, shall make this present technique attractive for high-contrast display applications and portable/mobile electronics that are highly power-aware.