electronics

Article
Optically Transparent Honeycomb Mesh Antenna Integrated
into OLED Light Source
Mustapha El Halaoui 1,2 , Pascal Dupuis 2 , Olivier Pigaglio 2 , Adel Asselman 1 , Georges Zissis 2
and Laurent Canale 2, *

1 Optics, Material and Systems Team, Faculty of Sciences, Abdelmalek Essaadi University,
Tetouan P.O. Box 2121, Morocco; [email protected] (M.E.H.); [email protected] (A.A.)
2 Université Toulouse III–Paul Sabatier, LAPLACE, UMR 5213, (CNRS, INPT, UPS), 118 rte de Narbonne,
31062 Toulouse, France; [email protected] (P.D.); [email protected] (O.P.);
[email protected] (G.Z.)
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: The co-integration of antennas with lighting sources appears as an effective way to distribute
broadband networks closer to users, lowering interference and transmitted power, as well as to
reduce energy consumption in future lighting systems. We here present an original contribution
to the implementation of transparent and invisible antennas with OLED light sources. To validate
the proposed approach, the honeycomb mesh technique was used, and an optical transparency of
75.4% was reached. The transparent mesh antenna was compared with the non-transparent full-
metal antenna in terms of radio-electrical parameters. Our prototype was designed using copper
films deposited on a glass substrate. The simulation results of the S-parameters and the radiation
patterns were validated against measurements performed in an anechoic chamber. The directivity
and gain obtained were 6.67 dBi and 4.86 dBi at 5.16 GHz, respectively. To study the effect of antenna
integration with OLEDs, optical and photometric characterizations with and without the antenna
were measured, and the colorimetric parameters were then treated using the IES TM-30-18 standard.

Keywords: antenna design; optically transparent antenna; mesh antenna; Organic Light-Emitting
Citation: El Halaoui, M.; Dupuis, P.;
Diodes (OLEDs); WLAN
Pigaglio, O.; Asselman, A.; Zissis, G.;
Canale, L. Optically Transparent
Honeycomb Mesh Antenna
Integrated into OLED Light Source. 1. Introduction
Electronics 2024, 13, 289. https:// Due to their excellent integration qualities, high energy efficiency, low luminance
doi.org/10.3390/electronics13020289 without glare, and potentially low manufacturing costs, Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
Academic Editors: Dejan Drajic, (OLEDs) can be easily integrated into urban spaces for pedestrian lighting. Manufacturers
Philipp Svoboda and Zoran Cica are still reluctant to invest massively in this technology, despite its maturity, as long as the
LED market is booming. Nevertheless, in recent years, OLEDs have rapidly progressed,
Received: 17 December 2023 and commercially available models are already used in internal and exterior lighting,
Revised: 27 December 2023
displays, automotive applications, aerospace, wearable biomedical devices, etc. [1–4].
Accepted: 29 December 2023
These developments are of great interest for manufacturers because it is obvious that this
Published: 8 January 2024
technology will be at the heart of the next generation of general lighting sources in smart
cities [5]. Intelligence applications indeed require new wireless network infrastructures to
support the increase in the volume of communication linked to new services. Furthermore,
Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.
the installation of a connected network of smart city services needs a larger communication
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. area. Therefore, it is necessary to install more antennas at the interfaces of all connected
This article is an open access article objects and to multiply the base stations in cities to achieve reliable communication [6]. Due
distributed under the terms and to the miniaturization of these objects and the visual pollution caused by the installation
conditions of the Creative Commons of more base stations in cities, this requirement becomes difficult to fulfill [7]. For this
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// reason, optically transparent antennas can be quite a promising solution to replacing
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ non-transparent antennas. Because of their optical transparency, these antennas can be
4.0/). integrated into screens, glazing, bus stop indicators, OLED lamps, etc. More antennas

Electronics 2024, 13, 289. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics13020289 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2024, 13, 289 2 of 17

means improvement in network coverage without increasing the visual or spatial impacts
linked to their presence [8,9].
With the expansion of the transparent device market, optically transparent antennas
have great potential for newer wireless communication systems. The manufacturing
process is based on the deposition of electrically conductive and transparent material on
transparent substrates [10,11]. According to the literature, the transparent materials used
in the manufacture of these antennas are indium tin oxide (ITO) [12–15], fluorine-doped tin
oxide (FTO) [16], aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) [17], AgHT-4 [18,19], AgHT-8 [20–23]),
ultra-thin metal film [24], and mesh structures [25–31].
The development of mobile devices benefits from the integration of antennas and
transparent and flexible screen displays. The antenna-on-display (AoD) solution has
already been implemented in the literature on OLED displays and Liquid Crystal Dis-
plays (LCDs). The original concept of optically invisible AoDs has been studied and
tested in high-resolution OLED touch displays for WiFi and Bluetooth applications in
smartwatches [32,33]. Furthermore, in [34], the authors presented a detailed study of an
optically invisible antenna integrated into OLEDs and LCDs for smartphones. This an-
tenna operates in the millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) band for 5G cellular applications. The
techniques of diamond mesh and identical dummy grids are used to achieve optical in-
visibility and transparency. Dummy-grid structures are diamond-shaped and encompass
the designed antenna region to eliminate any difference in optical transmittance. Similarly,
Ref. [35] also presented an AoD that can eventually be integrated into display panels for
the sub-6 GHz band. In addition, a simulation study of optically transparent antennas that
can be integrated into OLED light sources was presented in [7,36,37]. All these studies
were carried out to understand the operation of an antenna integrated into OLEDs without
taking into consideration the effect of this integration on the display’s color appearance.
This paper presents the design and realization of a transparent and invisible antenna,
designed using a honeycomb mesh for the 5 GHz WLAN band. This study focuses on
two main challenges in order to examine the antenna integration effects on the OLED
light source. The first is the transparent antenna design using the mesh technique. This
analysis is based on a comparison between two antennas: a full-metal antenna and a
honeycomb-meshed one. The honeycomb mesh technique is used to design the invisible
and transparent antenna with high transparency and an acceptable sheet resistance value.
The second one consists of antenna integration and its effects on the OLED panel’s visual
characteristics. For this purpose, this paper aims to study the colorimetric parameters of
a warm white OLED after the integration of the transparent mesh antenna. It contains a
physical realization of the concepts analyzed in [37], which presented a comparative study
on the simulation results of transparent circular patch antennas integrated into OLEDs. It
is important to note that the meshing technique to achieve optical transparency has been
widely discussed in the literature [7,25–37]. However, this paper presents, for the first time,
a complete study, which contains the antenna electrical parameters and the colorimetric
parameters of the OLED before and after antenna integration.
The remainder of this article is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the material
characteristics used in the design. To justify the choice of the transparent antenna, Section 3
describes a comparison between this antenna and a non-transparent one. The experimental
results are discussed and compared with the simulation results in Section 4. The method
for antenna integration into an OLED light source and the effect of this integration on the
radio-electrical parameters of the antenna and on the OLED colorimetric parameters are
studied in Section 5. Conclusions and perspectives are presented in Section 6.

2. Material Characteristic
This article proposes the study of a transparent antenna integrated into an OLED
light source to provide better connectivity for wireless communications. The proposed
antenna is designed using transparent materials deposited on a glass substrate. Firstly, the
characteristics of the materials used in this design are studied. These characteristics are
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 3 of 17

the optical and dielectric parameters of the glass substrate and the sheet resistance and
transparency of the ITO used in antenna manufacturing.

2.1. Substrate Characteristics

The main characteristics of interest are optical transparency (Tsub), dielectric per-
mittivity (ϵr ), and the tangent of the loss angle (tan(δ)). The dielectric parameters were
measured using the Vector Network Analyzer combined with the 85,070 B dielectric probe
kit with a tolerance of ±5 % and ±0.05 % on the dielectric permittivity and dielectric losses,
respectively. The measurement results of ϵr and tan(δ) are shown in Figure 1. According to
this figure, the measured values at a frequency of 5.16 GHz are ϵr = 6.2 and tan(δ) = 0.05.

11 0.8

Dielectric constant ( r) 0.7

10
Dielectric constant

Loss tangent (tan ) 0.6

Loss tangent
9
0.5

8 0.4

0.3
7
0.2
6
0.1

5 0
4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Frequency (GHz)
Figure 1. Dielectric permittivity and tangent of the loss angle.

The other parameter studied is optical transparency in the visible spectrum. This
parameter was measured using an optical bench at room temperature and a MINOLTA-
CS-1000 spectroradiometer. First, the luminance of the OLED was measured. Secondly,
the glass substrate was inserted through a lens holder in front of the objective, in order to
intercept the entire luminance. Transparency is the ratio of the latter luminance to the first
result at the corresponding wavelength. Figure 2 illustrates this optical transparency; the
median value is around 82.5%. Noise below 480 nm results from low emission in this band,
leading to an increased noise level.

100
Spectral Transmittance

80

60

40

20

0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wave length (nm)
Figure 2. Optical transparency for glass substrate in the visible spectrum.
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 4 of 17

2.2. Sheet Resistance

The two popular types of transparent antennas are meshed and based on transparent
conductive oxide (TCO)-type antennas. In this work, the ITO film and the mesh structure
were studied and compared. The Rs (Ω/sq) resistance of the sheet and the transparency T
(%) were compared to identify the most-suitable material of this design.

2.2.1. ITO Film

One of the TCOs widely used in the design of transparent antennas is ITO films.
OLEDs use ITO as an electrode for its conductive and transparent properties allowing
light to go out. Several researchers also use this material in the manufacture of optically
transparent antennas [12,14,15]. Its high optical transparency makes it an ideal candidate,
but its high sheet resistance remains a challenge for the realization of antennas. The sheet
resistance is the electrical resistance of a square surface of a material of thickness “t” [9].
The sheet resistance of the ITO film is given by the following relation:

1
Rs = (1)
σ·t
where σ is the conductivity and “t” is the thickness of the ITO film.

2.2.2. Mesh Structure

The structure of the metal mesh makes it possible to make optically transparent
conductive films for antennas. The principle of the mesh technique is to create holes in
a structure to let light pass. Transparency and sheet resistance change with the surface
variation of these holes. Figure 3 represents the honeycomb structure chosen in this
work. In general, the sheet resistance of the structure of the network is calculated by the
equation [29]:
q
Rs(mesh) = × Rs (2)
e
where Rs = 0.047 Ω/sq is the sheet resistance of the copper film (calculated by Equation (1)
with σ = 5.8 × 107 S/m and t = 370 nm), q is the pitch value, and e is the metal strip.
Since the honeycomb structure was used, the leaf resistance was calculated in the OX
and OY axes, compared to the direction of the current propagation in the meshed antenna.
The resistors along each axis are given by the following relations:
qx qy
Rs(mesh) = × Rs and Rs(mesh) = × Rs (3)
e e
The values of the chosen parameters are: q x = 0.32 mm, qy = 0.5 mm, e = 0.05 mm,
and Rs = 0.047 Ω/sq (Equation (1)). Consequently, a value of approximately Rs = 0.2 Ω/sq
was obtained for the mesh. Note that this value is greater than the resistance of the copper
film, but the use of these techniques increases the transparency of the material [25,29].

Figure 3. The geometry of the honeycomb mesh.

Electronics 2024, 13, 289 5 of 17

2.3. Optical Transparency

Optical transparency is another parameter that has been studied. Figure 4 illustrates a
comparison between the optical transparency of the ITO film and the honeycomb structure
from 380 to 780 nm. Although large mesh dimensions are needed to obtain high optical
transparency, this also increases sheet resistance. From this figure, the mesh structure has
excellent transparency compared to the ITO throughout the entire visible spectrum. The
measured transparencies remain constant. The median transparency value of the network
structure is around 75.4%, while that of the ITO film is 65.1%. Note that the measured
transparencies are the sum of the transparencies of two layers of the ITO and meshed
structure deposited on the glass substrate.

100
Spectral Transmittance

80

60

40

mesh structure
20
ITO film

0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wave length [nm]

Figure 4. Comparison between the optical transparency for the ITO film and mesh structure in the
visible spectrum.

Global transparency results from the sum of three layers: two mesh grids and the
substrate. Assuming that the contributions of the grids are identical, we can determine the
contribution of the mesh as:

Ttot = Tmesh · Tsubstr · Tmesh (4)

s
Ttot
Tmesh = (5)
Tsubstr

Inserting the previously measured transparency values in Equation (5), the trans-
parency of the mesh can be evaluated as 95.5%. This suggests that if the OLED glass
substrate and its anode can be used as the support and ground plane, respectively, the
impact of a single mesh layer would be quite small. This argument goes in favor of the
co-design and co-integration of the display and radiation functions.

2.4. Comparison between ITO and Mesh Technique

The comparison of the transparency and sheet resistance of the ITO film and mesh
structure is given in Table 1. According to this table, the transparency of the mesh structure
is 15.82% higher than that of the ITO film, while its sheet resistance is more than 20-times
lower than that of the ITO. Therefore, the mesh structure obtains better performance
compared to that of the ITO film. In this paper, the mesh structure was chosen to design
the transparent antenna integrated into the OLED light source.
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 6 of 17

Table 1. Comparisons between the ITO film and mesh structure.

ITO Film Copper Film Mesh Structure

Transparency (%) 65.1 opaque 75.4
Sheet resistance
4.51 0.047 0.2
(Ω/sq)
Thickness (nm) 370 370 370

2.5. Invisibility to the Bare Eye

In order to integrate the mesh antenna into the OLED, the parameters of the honey-
comb structure were optimized so that the human eye cannot distinguish the structure.
The performance of the human eye was taken into account in this optimization. Therefore,
the angular discrimination of the eye is θmin = 4.9 × 10−4 rad [38]. The distance between
two distinct points can be expressed as follows:

pmin = d · tan θmin ≈ d · θmin (6)

The distance d between the eye and the object depends on the intended application in
which the mesh will be used (Figure 5). This distance is equal to the minimum value of the
punctum proximum. Thus, a distance of 1 m was considered, which is quite sufficient for
the antenna to be invisible in OLED light sources.

Figure 5. Diagram of the discrimination of two points observed with the bare eye [38].

The distance calculated using Equation (6) is approximately pmin = 490 µm. We can
conclude that the mesh antenna using these parameters will be invisible to the bare eye at a
minimum distance of 1 m.

3. Antenna Configurations
Two complementary case studies were implemented to investigate an antenna inte-
grated into the OLED. The non-transparent antenna was designed with an all-copper film.
The optically transparent and invisible antenna uses a honeycomb-shaped mesh structure.
The all-metal version served as the reference standard for characterizing RF properties.

3.1. Non-Transparent Antennas

A reference non-transparent patch antenna was first designed using an entirely copper
film. The geometry of the non-transparent antenna is shown in Figure 6. This antenna
consists of a radiating element on one side of the glass substrate (thickness of hs = 1.1 mm)
and a ground plane on the other side.
The width (W f = 1.77 mm) and the length (L f = 5.8 mm) of the antennas’ feedline
were calculated to match the characteristic impedance of 50 Ω. Both antennas occupy a
volume of 25 × 25 × 1.1 mm3 . A copper film (conductivity of σ = 5.8 × 107 S/m, thickness
of t = 370 nm and sheet resistance of Rs = 0.05 Ω/sq) was used to design the two antennas.
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 7 of 17

The dimensions were calculated using the equations in [39], so that the antenna operates in
the 5.15 GHz WLAN band.

(a) (b)
Figure 6. Rectangular patch antenna geometry: (a) 3D view, (b) top view. Ws = 25 mm, Ls = 25 mm,
L p = 11.76 mm, Wp = 15.8 mm, t = 1 mm, L1 = 5.4 mm, L f = 5.8 mm, and W f = 1.77 mm.

3.2. Transparent Antenna

The transparent antenna designed using the honeycomb-shaped mesh structure can
be integrated into an OLED light source structure with minimal impact on the luminous
efficiency. The proposed antenna was designed to cover the WLAN band, but it can
be operated on other bands by optimizing the mesh parameters. Figure 7 shows the
geometry of the mesh antenna with the dimensions of the honeycomb mesh. For the ease
of comparison, the non-transparent and mesh antennas have the same dimensions

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 7. Transparent antenna geometry: (a) meshed radiating patch, (b) mesh cells, and (c) meshed
ground plane. Ws = 25 mm, Ls = 25 mm, L p = 11.76 mm, Wp = 15.8 mm, e = 50 µm, q x = 320 µm,
and q x = 500 µm.

3.3. Comparison between the Non-Transparent and Transparent Antennas

Both designs were simulated and analyzed using an electromagnetic solver software,
Ansys Electronics Desktop V.13.0.2. The electrical and radiation parameters of the antennas
were compared. Figure 8 shows the comparison between the return losses for the compared
antennas. For both candidates, the antenna impedance’s were well matched to 50 Ω at
the resonance frequency of 5.15 GHz, because the return losses were less than −10 dB.
The bandwidth defined by (S11 ≤ −10 dB) was 130 MHz (5.19–5.32 GHz) for the non-
transparent antenna and 110 MHz (5.09–5.2 GHz) for the transparent antenna. It should be
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 8 of 17

noted that the compared antennas had the same size; however, the disagreement observed
between the resonance frequencies is justified by the resistance values for each structure
(solid metal layer versus mesh metallic layer).

Figure 8. Comparison between the return losses of the compared antennas (non-transparent and
transparent).

The radiation patterns for the two antennas are also compared in Figure 9. These
diagrams are obtained for the resonance frequencies of each antenna and for the two
planes: the XZ-plane (Figure 9a) and YZ-plane (Figure 9b). These results are in acceptable
agreement because the antennas’ sizes are equivalent. The maximum gains were 6.23 dBi
and 5.5 dBi for the non-transparent and transparent antennas, respectively. Both antennas
achieved good gain in the operating band for WLAN applications. Therefore, increasing
the resistance value of the sheet deteriorated the gain of the mesh antenna. This can be
compensated by using meta-materials and applying array antenna techniques [40].

(a) (b)
Figure 9. Comparison between the radiation patterns of the compared antennas: (a) XZ-plane and
(b) YZ-plane.

4. Experimental Results
The antennas were optimized using electromagnetic solver Ansys Electronics Desktop
software and were manufactured by the photolithography process to validate the results
obtained in the simulation. Figure 10a shows photographs of the fabricated antennas. Their
reflection coefficients and radiation patterns were measured. The first was evaluated using
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 9 of 17

the Vector Network Analyzer. The latter was measured inside an anechoic chamber, as
shown in Figure 10b.

(a) (b)
Figure 10. Manufactured antennas: (a) non-transparent and transparent antennas; (b) antenna
measurement chamber setup.

4.1. Reflection Coefficient Comparison

The simulated and measured reflection coefficient of the non-transparent and trans-
parent antennas are shown in Figure 11. The impedance matching of the manufactured
transparent antenna was not well matched; this may be justified among other things by
the process inaccuracies in the manufacturing of the mesh antenna, the electrical losses of
the glass substrate, and the increase in the resistance value of the sheet through the use of
the mesh technique. Additionally, the metal thickness t = 370 nm was so thin that it was
comparable to the skin depth value of 0.9 µm (calculated using the skin depth equation
[24]); high loss was present, which reduced the performance of the antenna.

Figure 11. Measured and simulated return loss of the transparent and non-transparent antennas.

To minimize the losses due to the skin depth, a metal thickness greater than 3 × 0.9 =
2.7 µm should be used. However, the metal deposition technique used does not make it
possible to obtain this thickness. However, the proposed antennas still exhibited acceptable
impedance matching over the WLAN frequency band.
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 10 of 17

4.2. Radiation Patterns Comparison

The far-field radiation patterns of the non-transparent antenna at 5.27 GHz are shown
in Figure 12. Figure 13 shows the far-field radiation patterns of the transparent antenna at
5.16 GHz. In general, the simulated results matched the measured results. The observed
deviations were attributed to the manufacturing problems and losses related to the electrical
characteristics of the substrate. It was also observed that the antenna had an essentially
unidirectional radiation pattern. The measured back radiation could not be evaluated due
to the measurement configuration of the anechoic chamber.

(a) (b)
Figure 12. Measured and simulated radiation patterns of the non-transparent antenna: (a) in the
XZ-plane and (b) in the YZ-plane.

(a) (b)
Figure 13. Measured and simulated radiation patterns of the transparent mesh antenna: (a) in the
XZ-plane and (b) in the YZ-plane.

5. Antenna Integration into OLED

OLEDs will become the most-suitable technology in future display and lighting sys-
tems, 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 temper-
ature, 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’
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 11 of 17

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.

(a) (b)

(c)
Figure 14. Antenna integration into the OLED structure; (a) cross-sectional view, (b) top view, and
(c) in the measurement step.
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 12 of 17

5.1. OLED Effects on the Antenna Performances

The comparison between the measured and simulated reflection coefficient of the
antenna with and without the OLED is shown in Figure 15. From this figure, it can be
observed that an acceptable agreement between the results was obtained and the bandwidth
can well cover the desired WLAN frequency band. The transparent antenna return loss
is affected by the OLED. The layers of the OLED also affect the antenna impedance, and
it is less adapted at 50 Ω. The resonance frequency of the proposed antenna shifts to low
frequencies with a narrow bandwidth.

Figure 15. Comparison between measured and simulated return loss and with/without OLED.

Figure 16 shows the comparison between the radiation patterns of the mesh antenna,
with and without the OLED: Figure 16a in the XZ-plane, Figure 16b in the YZ-plane, and
Figure 16c with the OLED in 3D view. These diagrams are oriented in the direction of the
light emission from the OLED. The obtained directivity and gain of the antenna with the
OLEDs are 6.67 dBi and 4.86 dBi, respectively, at 5.22 GHz. These values were improved
after the integration of the OLED; this can be explained by the effect of the OLED layers,
which are considered as the ground plane reflecting the antenna radiation.
However, the materials used in the layers of the OLED light source are extremely
critical for their efficiency and lifetime. The OLED panels contain ITO and aluminum
electrodes and a metal foil layer, which serves as a reference ground for the antenna. The
slight differences between the two results with and without the OLED can be interpreted
by the effect of these layers on the antenna radiation. Since, the size of the layers is much
larger than the size of the integrated antenna, these layers act as a large ground plane. This
ground plane allows electromagnetic waves from the surface to be confined within the
OLED panel, rather than radiating outwards. Therefore, these fields affect the electrical
and radiation performance of the antenna.
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 13 of 17

(a) (b)

(c)
Figure 16. Radiation patterns of the transparent antenna with and without OLED; (a) in the XZ-plane,
(b) in the YZ-plane, and (c) with OLED in 3D view.

5.2. Antenna Effects on the OLED Colorimetric Parameters

After the study of the effects of the OLED on the radio-electrical parameters of the
antenna, it is very important to investigate the influence of this integration on the color
appearance of the OLED. Therefore, the optical and photometric characterizations of
the OLED were carried out before and after the antenna integration. Figure 17 shows a
photograph of the optical and photonic measurements of the OLED. These measurements
were carried out on an optical bench at room temperature with the MINOLTA CS-1000
spectroradiometer. This measuring device was placed 1 m from the OLED, allowing the
measurement of the optical and colorimetric parameters in the visible field (380–780 nm) in
steps [44]. The measurements were carried out in both with and without the antenna and
were repeated 21 times to ensure the accuracy of the measured values.

Figure 17. Measuring bench for the optical characterizations.

Then, the colorimetric parameters were calculated using the IES TM-30-18 color-
rendering method [45]. Using this method is more appropriate for LED and OLED light
sources, because it generates bettercolorimetric analysis than the CIE fidelity index method.
This involves calculating the mean fidelity index (Rf) by the light source rendering test
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 14 of 17

from 99 Color Evaluation Samples (CES) compared to the International Commission on

Illumination (CIE) standard [46], which only considers 8 Test Color Samples (TCS) to
calculate Ra (Ra: color rendering index calculated according to the CIE 1995 CRI method).
Colorimetric parameters such as the Spectral Power Distribution (SPD), Correlated Color
Temperature (CCT), chromaticity coordinates (x,y) and (u′ ,v′ ), the Duv value (the distance
between the chromaticity coordinates (u′ ,v′ ) of the OLED and the Planckian locus on
the CIE 1976 color space), Rf (fidelity index), and Rg (Gamut index) were calculated to
understand the change in the color appearance of the OLED after the integration of the
antenna.
Figure 18 illustrates a comparison between the SPD of a warm white OLED (CCT =
3000 K) and the SPD of the OLED measured with the integrated antenna. It was noticed
that the SPD changed after the integration of the antenna. A variation in the SPD generally
results in changes in the colorimetric parameters.

0.25
OLED Spectrum without antenna
OLED Spectrum with antenna
0.2
SPD ( W / cm2 )

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wave length (nm)
Figure 18. The SPD of the OLED with and without the mesh transparent antenna.

The average CCT, chromaticity coordinates (x,y) and (u′ ,v′ ), Duv value, Rf, and Rg
are shown in Table 2 for both the cases with and without the antenna. According to the
MacAdam ellipse, the slight differences observed in these parameters are not detectable
by users. The measurements, therefore, showed no significant difference between these
parameters with and without the antenna. However, the luminance value decreased by
25% after the antenna was integrated, so this alteration will cause the lamp brightness to be
non-uniform.

Table 2. Measured colorimetric parameters of the OLED before and after antenna integration.

Colorimetric Parameters Without Antenna With Antenna

Luminance (cd m−2 ) 8654 ± 12.3 6481 ± 8.3
CCT [K] 3037 ± 3.6 3033 ± 0.3
(x, y) (0.4331, 0.4006) (0.4330, 0.3998)
(u′ , v′ ) (0.2496, 0.5194) (0.2498, 0.5191)
Duv −0.0009 −0.0011
(Rf, Rg) (86, 99) (86, 99)

6. Conclusions and Perspectives

To the authors’ knowledge, this paper has proposed for the first time an original
contribution with the experiment tests to integrate a transparent antenna into an OLED
light source and can serve as a reference. The discussed method involved first designing a
honeycomb mesh that achieved optical transparency. With the chosen mesh parameters,
Electronics 2024, 13, 289 15 of 17

this transparency was approximately 75.4 %, while the antenna was not visible to the bare
eye. This antenna was fabricated using a photolithography process and compared with its
non-transparent counterpart in terms of the S-parameters and radiation patterns measured
inside an anechoic chamber.
In addition, optical and photometric characterizations were carried out with and
without an antenna. The luminance, spectral power distributions, correlated color tem-
perature, CIE 1931 (x,y), CIE 1976 (u′ ,v′ ), Duv value, fidelity, and gamut indexes were
calculated using the IES TM-30-18 color-rendering method. It was assessed that integrating
the three-layer antenna degraded the luminance of the OLED by 25 % due to the chosen
substrate and mesh dimensions.
Optically transparent antennas will make it possible to replace conventional antennas
in future devices. With the development of connected and intelligent objects, present
in all sectors such as smart cities, smart lighting, transport, wearables, industry, smart
hospitals, etc., these antennas will be crucial in future 6G applications. Therefore, future
work will aim to improve the co-integration mechanism using some OLED layers as both
a supporting and radiating element as an antenna. On the one hand, this will optimize
the manufacturing cost by reducing the number of additional layers added. On the other
hand, by minimizing the number of interfaces, it will reduce the transmission losses due to
refractive index mismatches, thereby maximizing luminous efficiency. Furthermore, this
approach to antenna/OLED co-integration could introduce new solutions for emerging
technologies, such as transparent and flexible displays, wearable biomedical devices, and
automotive lighting devices.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, M.E.H. and L.C.; methodology, M.E.H.; software, M.E.H.,
P.D. and O.P.; validation, M.E.H., O.P., P.D. and L.C.; writing—original draft preparation, M.E.H., P.D.
and L.C.; supervision, A.A., L.C. and G.Z.; writing—review and editing, A.A., G.Z. and L.C.; funding
acquisition, L.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work is supported by PHC Maghreb (Hubert Curien Program, grant number: 43981ZG)
“MELINA” (Mastering Efficient Lighting in North Africa) supported by the French Ministry of Europe
and Foreign Affairs and Campus France and, in Morocco, by the Ministry of Higher Education,
Scientific Research and Innovation, in partnership with the National Center for Scientific and Technical
Research (CNRST).
Data Availability Statement: The data will be provided upon request from the corresponding author.
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Benoit Schlegel and
Pierre Hernandez of the LAPLACE lab for their support in the antenna manufacturing.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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