OLED displays may charge themselves
updated 02:15 pm EDT, Mon September 18, 2006
OLED Solar Power Cells
Batteries are more and more the primary limiting factors in portable devices, and researchers have recently shifted attention towards transforming the devices' own bodies into power sources. The latest in these studies recently completed at Cornell University, according to a study published in the journal Science. Scientists at the university have discovered a way to add a conducting film on top of a two-layer OLED display that would let the screen itself draw in negative ions from sunlight, charging the screen and the device attached to it. Already energy-efficient, the organic screens could theoretically be used to largely eliminate the modest power draw of an OLED and may even allow the display to charge the main battery while the system is shut down or on standby. The Cornell invention is likely to need several years before it can be used commercially, as is often the case with scientific research.
