Martin Pope, a physical chemist whose fundamental work on molecular semiconductors led to the development of organic light-emitting diodes, which are used in digital cameras, mobile phones, solar panels and televisions, died March 27 at his home in Brooklyn. He was 103.

In the early 1960s, Dr. Pope published one of his most important papers, “Electroluminescence in Organic Crystals,” which reported that electricity could be used to generate light from an organic compound called anthracene. “That was a milestone that has found root in the high-performance displays we’re seeing today,” said Richard Friend, as physicist at the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Pope’s insight into some of the strange quantum mechanical phenomena shown by another organic compound, tetracene, also turned out to be well ahead of its time. In a paper published in 1969, he demonstrated the possibility of producing two excited molecules, or excitons, in a tetracene crystal after just one photon of light was absorbed in it. The result, Dr. Pope said, “proved that the efficiency of converting light into useful electric current is greatly increased.” The practical application of the discovery is that it offers a way to improve the efficiency of solar cells.

In 2006, the Royal Society awarded Dr. Pope the Davy Medal, given annually to a scientist whose research helped bring about extraordinary advances in any field of chemistry. In a 2011 interview, Dr. Pope said he was surprised by the practical application of his discovery. “At the time I carried out my research, I did not have the faintest idea that it would become of worldwide importance.”