Researchers at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland are currently working on a new form of counterfeit protection that may help to make products such as electronic devices or aircraft components more counterfeit-proof. The researchers use a high-precision UV laser that emits nanosecond-long impulses and can etch individual holograms directly into metal surfaces without damaging or roughening them. This means that the anti-counterfeit protection is not simply applied to the product’s surface, but rather etched into its material.
This makes the new holograms more robust and less prone to damage or manipulation than barcodes or holographic security tags. “The holograms are visible to the naked eye and appear as smooth, shiny textures. They’re robust to local damage and readable by using a collimated beam from a low-cost, commercially-available laser pointer, so border agencies or consumers won’t need expensive technology to check an item’s authenticity,“ explained Dr. Krystian Wlodarczyk, a researcher at the Heriot-Watt University. „Actually, the holograms can also be read even using a ’flashlight’ from a smartphone.”
Currently the process can be used on various metals. The researchers, however, want to expand the holograms‘ fields of application, and are currently testing them on glass. The holograms should also become much smaller for use on products of various sizes.
