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Invisible QR codes designed to thwart counterfeiters

Invisible QR codes designed to thwart counterfeiters
An AutoCAD rendering of one of the QR codes, being read by a smartphone
An AutoCAD rendering of one of the QR codes, being read by a smartphone
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An AutoCAD rendering of one of the QR codes, being read by a smartphone
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An AutoCAD rendering of one of the QR codes, being read by a smartphone

Along with the possibilities of fluorescing dyes and butterfly-wing-inspired printing techniques, there could soon be a new weapon in the fight against counterfeiting – invisible QR codes. Researchers at the University of South Dakota and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology have developed a process for applying such codes to glass, plastic film, and paper products such as bank notes.

The codes are generated using an AutoCAD (computer-aided design) program, and are physically made up of lanthanide-doped nanoparticles blended with blue and green fluorescence ink. They are applied using an aerosol jet printer, and remain invisible to the naked eye. This means that unlike bar codes, they wouldn’t interfere with the appearance of currency, packaging, or any other surface to which they were applied.

When illuminated with near infra-red laser light, the codes become visible. They can then be “read” by a scanning device such as a smartphone, to verify the authenticity of the item in question. In lab tests, codes were still readable after being printed on paper that was subsequently folded in random directions 50 times.

Because the production process is quite complex, the researchers believe that it would be very difficult for counterfeiters to replicate working, accurate QR codes. Things could be made even more difficult for those counterfeiters by embedding microscopic characters and symbols (which would require a microscope to read) within the original code, or by varying the nanoparticle-to-ink ratio.

While the entire design-to-verification process currently takes about 90 minutes, project leader Jeevan Meruga is confident that commercial-scale application of the codes could ultimately take as little as 10 to 15 minutes – it isn’t clear how many applications could be done within that amount of time, but presumably enough to make the technology logistically practical.

A paper on the research was published yesterday in the journal Nanotechnology. More information is available in the video below.

Source: IOP

The world's most secure QR codes

5 comments
5 comments
Pikeman
It might give 18 months of the counterfeited new Currency not being accepted in banks. For real security it needs to be something in the paper that takes a manufacturing process that is real difficult to hide to produce. It should also react to bleaching agents in a manner that makes it impossible to remove the ink without destroying the distinctive nature of the paper.
Stewart Mitchell
money will soon be destroyed. 4 months is likely.
Stephen N Russell
Or apply to patents, plans, documents alone to deter espionage.
Pikeman
re; Stewart Mitchell
Fiat currency might be destroyed shortly but real money is hard to destroy.
Money is something of inherent value that is used as a medium of exchange.
Richard Corso
Most European postal systems use this type of technology on their letter delivery systems. Try a uv or black light on your mail to find out.