# Optically Transparent Honeycomb Mesh Antenna Integrated into OLED Light Source
## 5 Antenna Integration into OLED  
OLEDs will become the most-suitable technology in future display and lighting systems, thanks to their many benefits, such as the high quality of light and images with excellent color rendering, low power consumption, controllability in terms of color temperature, and the possibility to realize them on transparent or flexible substrates with lower manufacturing costs. The integration of antennas in this technology can provide a solution in terms of the implementation of future lighting systems and the coverage area in wireless communication. In [34], the authors discussed the use of transparent antennas for future cities to improve network capacity, reduce visual pollution, and expand infrastructure in 5G wireless communication. These antennas will also be a good candidate for future 6G systems, in which all possible communication scenarios will be found, such as terrestrial wireless communication networks, satellite communication, intelligent transport, and the massive Internet of Things (IoT) [41]. Therefore, this work aimed to study the antennas'  
Figure 12: Measured and simulated radiation patterns of the non-transparent antenna: (**a**) in the XZ-plane and (**b**) in the YZ-plane.  
Figure 13: Measured and simulated radiation patterns of the transparent mesh antenna: (**a**) in the XZ-plane and (**b**) in the YZ-plane.  
integration into OLED technology to contribute to scientific research into the development of lighting systems. How to integrate a transparent antenna into OLED technology will be discussed in this section. The parameters of the OLED model used in this study are the same as those of the commercialized device [42].  
Generally speaking, an OLED is made up of several organic layers located between two electrodes. Each layer plays a specific role in the light-emission process. Figure 14 shows the OLED's structure, including the antenna location. Figure 14a illustrates the different components of the OLED. Layer 1 is the 0.7 mm-thick OLED glass substrate. To achieve proper OLED operation, the anode material must provide the balance between high transparency, good electrical conductivity, and good chemical stability. Additionally, the materials and thicknesses of the organic layers are crucial in the manufacturing of the OLED. The choice of materials and thicknesses of these layers, therefore, depends on the requirements and performance of the desired application. According to the literature, the most-used material is Alq3 (tris (8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum) [43]. In the simulation model, Layer 2 is the ITO anode, whose thickness is 150 nm. Layer 3 contains the Hole Transport Layer (HTL), Electron Transport Layer (ETL), and Emissive Layer (EML) with a thickness of 270 nm. Layer 4 is the metal cathode made of aluminum and with a thickness of 120 nm. In order to protect the organic layers against oxidation, an encapsulation layer (Layer 5) is placed at the back of the cathode. After encapsulation, the metal Layer 6 is fixed for heat dissipation. Figure 14b shows the overall size of the proposed OLED model. The antenna is replaced on the front of the OLED to minimize the effect of the metal layer on its radiation, as shown in Figure 14c. The yellowish appearance is the result of the camera settings because the white balance was not set correctly.  
Figure 14: Antenna integration into the OLED structure; (**a**) cross-sectional view, (**b**) top view, and (**c**) in the measurement step.