Optically Transparent Materials for 5G High-Band

With the introduction of 5G networks in industry and researchers looking towards 6G, the need for dense communication networks in urban areas has incessantly increased. In response, there is an increasing need for antennas that can be placed closely together while being unnoticeable to the public. For these reasons, optically clear antennas (OCA) have been proposed in many works for their ability to be optically transparent while being conductive in the radio frequency spectrum. This work explores the issues presented with OCAs and examines electromagnetic compatibility for higher frequency applications, such as High-Band 5G. A patch antenna array and band-stop frequency selective surface (FSS) for 38GHz are simulated and results are presented that show conductivity issues at higher frequency as a result of shorter wavelengths.