Photoelectrochromic generator and display device
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsAllen J. Bard, Fu-Ren F. Fan, Benjamin Reichman
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Abstract
A photoelectrochromic display device having a semiconductor electrode, and a counterelectrode made of a selected metallic material is presented. The electrode and counterelectrode are immersed in an aqueous solution containing heptyl viologen. The device is usable as a display device, as a storage battery, and as an alternating current photoelectric generator. As a display device, the cell requires only two leads rather than multiple leads and complicated electrical addressing and decoding required for most multi-character displays.
Claims6
A device usable as a photoelectric cell or as a rechargeable storage battery, comprising:
- a semiconductor first electrode comprising P-GaAs provided with a first output means connectable to an external circuit,
- a metallic second electrode provided with a second output means connectable to the external circuit, and
- an aqueous solution comprising heptyl viologen,
- the first and second electrodes being immersed in the aqueous solution and illuminatable by light radiation for generating an output at the output means.
An alternating current photoelectric generator comprising:
- a semiconductor first electrode comprising P-GaAs provided with a first output means connectable to an external circuit,
- a metallic second electrode provided with a second output means connectable to the external circuit, and
- an aqueous solution comprising heptyl viologen,
- the first and second electrodes being immersed in the aqueous solution and means for illuminating said first electrode by a periodic chopped light illumination source for generating an AC output at the output means for providing AC power to the external circuit.
A photoelectric display device comprising:
- a semiconductor first electrode comprising P-GaAs provided with a first output means connectable to an external circuit,
- a metallic second electrode provided with a second output means connectable to the external circuit, and
- an aqueous solution comprising heptyl viologen, the first and second electrodes being immersed in the aqueous solution and connectable to an external bias potential,
- and means for illuminating the first electrode with a raster light beam for forming a display image on the first electrode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.