Biomimetic Microfingerprints for Anti‐Counterfeiting Strategies

• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201405483
• Publication Date: 2015-02-06T11:56:44Z
• Authors: Hyung Jong Bae; Sangwook Bae; Cheolheon Park; Sangkwon Han; Junhoi Kim; Lily Nari Kim; Kibeom Kim; Suk‐Heung Song; Wook Park; Sunghoon Kwon
• Keywords: Biomimetics; Fraud; Humans; 02 engineering and technology; Dermatoglyphics; Silicon Dioxide; 0210 nano-technology; Microspheres; Mechanical Phenomena

An unclonable, fingerprint-mimicking anti-counterfeiting strategy is presented that encrypts polymeric particles with randomly generated silica film wrinkles. The generated wrinkle codes are as highly unique as human fingerprints and are technically irreproducible. Superior to previous physical unclonable functions, codes are tunable on demand and generable on various geometries. Reliable authentication of real-world products that have these microfingerprints is demonstrated using optical decoding methods.