To allow a greater acceptance in the display and lighting markets, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology is currently the subject of intensive research efforts aimed at manufacturing cost-effective devices with higher efficiencies. In this regard, strategies matured in the field of photonics and nanophotonics can be applied for photon management purposes to improve the outcoupling of the generated light and to control the emission pattern. In this review, we report on the recent experimental and numerical advances to pursue those goals by highlighting the example of bottom-emitting devices. The cases of periodical micro- and nanostructures, as well as of stochastic ensembles that can be easily implemented using printing techniques, are covered herein. It is shown that beyond the sole optical properties, such additional elements can simultaneously improve the electrical characteristics of solution-processed OLEDs, and thus enable an optimization of the devices at different levels.

A number of photovoltaic technologies have been developed for large-scale solar-power production. The single-crystal first-generation photovoltaic devices were followed by thin-film semiconductor absorber layers layered between two charge-selective contacts, and more recently, by nanostructured or mesostructured solar cells that utilize a distributed heterojunction to generate charge carriers and to transport holes and electrons in spatially separated conduits. Even though a number of materials have been trialed in nanostructured devices, the aim of achieving high-efficiency thin-film solar cells in such a manner as to rival the silicon technology has yet to be attained. Organolead halide perovskites have recently emerged as a promising material for high-efficiency nanoinfiltrated devices. An examination of the efficiency evolution curve reveals that interfaces play a paramount role in emerging organic electronic applications. To optimize and control the performance in these devices, a comprehensive understanding of the contacts is essential. However, despite the apparent advances made, a fundamental theoretical analysis of the physical processes taking place at the contacts is still lacking. However, experimental ideas, such as the use of interlayer films, are forging marked improvements in efficiencies of perovskite-based solar cells. Furthermore, issues of long-term stability and large-area manufacturing have some way to go before full commercialization is possible.

A laser-based “green” synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) was used to manufacture gold NPs in water. The light source is a Ti:Sapphire laser with 30 fs FWHM pulses, 800 nm mean wavelength, and 1 kHz repetition rate. The method involves two stages: (1) pulsed laser ablation in liquids and (2) photo-fragmentation (PF). Highly pure and well-dispersed NPs with a diameter of 18.5 nm that can be stored at room temperature without showing any agglomeration over a period of at least 3 months were produced without the need to use any stabilizer. Transmittance spectra, extinction coefficient, NPs agglomeration dynamics, and thermal conductivity of the nanofluids obtained were analyzed before and after being submitted to thermal cycling and compared to those obtained for commercial gold/water suspensions. Optical properties have also been investigated, showing no substantial differences for thermal applications between NPs produced by the laser ablation and PF technique and commercial NPs. Therefore, nanofluids produced by this technique can be used in thermal applications, which are foreseen for conventional nanofluids, e.g., heat transfer enhancement and solar radiation direct absorption, but offering the opportunity to produce them in situ in almost any kind of fluid without the production of any chemical waste.

We theoretically investigate the spectral of light-localization in one-dimensional generalized Thue–Morse (GTM) photonic structures (n,m,k), where n and m are both positive integers representing parameters of GTM sequence and k is the order of this sequence. Numerical analysis is performed by the transfer matrix method algorithm to investigate their optical properties. We have shown that by varying m and n simultaneously, the electric field intensity in the GTM structure varies according to the parity of these parameters and also according to the peak positions.

A compact hybrid solar simulator with the spectral match beyond class A is proposed. Six types of high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and tungsten halogen lamps in total were employed to obtain spectral match with <25% deviation from the standardized one in twelve spectral ranges between 400 and 1100 nm. All spectral ranges were twice as narrow than required by IEC 60904-9 Ed.2.0 and ASTM E927-10(2015) standards. Nonuniformity of the irradiance was evaluated and <2% deviation from the average value of the irradiance (corresponding to A class nonuniformity) can be obtained for the area of >3-cm diameter. A theoretical analysis was performed to evaluate possible performance of our simulator in the case of GaInP/GaAs/GaInAsP/GaInAs four-junction tandem solar cells and AM1.5D (ASTM G173-03 standard) spectrum. Lack of ultraviolet radiation in comparison to standard spectrum leads to 6.94% reduction of short-circuit current, which could be remedied with 137% increase of the output from blue LEDs. Excess of infrared radiation from halogen lamps outside ranges specified by standards is expected to lead to ∼0.77% voltage increase.

In this study, the influence of small-molecule organic hole injection materials on the performance of organic solar cells (OSCs) as the hole transport layer (HTL) with an architecture of ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PC₇₁BM/HTL/Ag has been investigated. A significant enhancement on the performance of OSCs from 1.06% to 2.63% is obtained by using N, N′-bis(1-naphthalenyl)-N, N′-bis-phenyl-(1, 1′-biphenyl)-4, 4′-diamine (NPB) HTL. Through the resistance simulation and space-charge limited current analysis, we found that NPB HTL cannot merely improve the hole mobility of the device but also form the Ohmic contact between the active layer and anode. Besides, when we apply mix HTL by depositing the NPB on the surface of molybdenum oxide, the power conversion efficiency of OSC are able to be further improved to 2.96%.

One of the issues in the organic solar-cell technology that needs attention before mass production is its low long-term stability. These devices need often to be exposed to the light to improve their photovoltaic properties. This effect, known as light soaking, is the cause of challenges related to correct measurements and proper determination of the device lifetime. Lifetime determination and investigation of failure mechanisms of solar-cell devices require reliable measurement approaches. This paper presents the systematic studies on proper analysis of degradation dynamics of organic solar cells (OSCs) taking into account the light-soaking effect. Five groups of organic solar-cell annealed at various conditions (110°C to 170°C and nonannealed) were under investigation for 100 days. Measurement procedure for proper investigation of light-soaking effect is proposed. Solar-cell efficiency improvement, due to light-soaking effect, in range 8% to 27% was observed for as fabricated devices. After 100 days of study, the light soaking-related efficiency improvement increased up to over 100% of initial efficiency. Device lifetimes strongly depend on measurement methods, which were applied. Our results show the importance of taking into account the changes in magnitude of the light-soaking effect in measurements and degradation studies of OSCs.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have numerous applications ranging from flat-panel displays to eco-friendly solid-state lightings. OLEDs typically operate under high bias voltages at, or above, the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy gaps of the light-emitting molecules. We review recent development in Auger-electron-stimulated OLEDs, which have working voltages below the HOMO–LUMO energy gaps of emitters; i.e., the output photon energies are higher than the input electrical energies.

The spatially resolved electrical response of polycrystalline NiO_x films, composed of 40 nm crystallites, was investigated under different relative humidity (RH) levels. The topological and electrical properties (surface potential and resistance) were characterized with sub-25-nm resolution using Kelvin probe force microscopy and conductive scanning probe microscopy under argon atmosphere with 0%, 50%, and 80% RH. The dimensionality of surface features obtained through autocorrelation analysis of topological maps increased linearly with increased RH, as water was adsorbed onto the film surface. Surface potential decreased from 280 to 100 mV and resistance decreased from 5 GΩ to 3 GΩ, in a nonlinear fashion when RH was increased from 0% to 80%. Spatially resolved surface potential and resistance of the NiO_x films was found to be heterogeneous throughout the film, with distinct surface features that grew in size from 60 to 175 nm at 0% and 80% RH levels, respectively. The heterogeneous character of the topological, surface potential, and resistance properties of the polycrystalline NiO_x film observed under dry conditions decreased with increased RH, yielding nearly homogeneous surface properties at 80% RH, suggesting that the nanoscale potential and resistance properties converge with the mesoscale properties as water is adsorbed onto the NiO_x film.