US-12619841-B2 - Terahertz-readable laser implemented marks

Abstract

A system for authenticating an object includes at least one laser configured for interacting with a tag, the tag comprising structural changes to the object, the structural changes being responsive to terahertz electromagnetic waves. The system may also include a processor configured to (i) receive electromagnetic wave data resulting from interaction of the terahertz electromagnetic waves with the structural changes, (ii) compare the electromagnetic wave data to a reference standard, (iii) determine that the object is authentic in response to the electromagnetic wave data meeting the reference standard, and (iv) determine that the object is not authentic in response to the electromagnetic wave data not meeting the reference standard. A system for reading a tag of an object is further provided.

Inventors

• Adrian Phoulady
• Pouria Hoveida
• Hongbin Choi
• Nicholas MAY
• Sina Shahbazmohamadi
• Pouya Tavousi
• Daniel Dimase

Assignees

• UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
• FEMTOINNOVATIONS, LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20240802

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A system for authenticating an object, the system comprising: at least one terahertz light source configured for reading a tag, the tag comprising structural changes to the object in a region beneath an exterior surface of the object, the structural changes being responsive to terahertz electromagnetic waves that produce a distinct interaction in a terahertz time-domain and intensity-domain signal in accordance with an identification mark coding.
2. 2 . The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a laser configured for creating the tag; and a controller coupled to the laser and configured to control the laser to produce the tag in accordance with the identification mark coding.
3. 3 . The system according to claim 2 , wherein the structural changes comprise a plurality of distinct depth levels.
4. 4 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the structural changes comprise atomic or molecular displacements disposed in the region below the exterior surface of the object.
5. 5 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the structural changes are disposed below a packaging material of the object covering the tag.
6. 6 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the tag signifies that the object is authentic in response to electromagnetic wave data obtained from received terahertz electromagnetic waves that interact with the structural changes matching a reference standard.
7. 7 . The system according to claim 6 , further comprising a processor configured to correlate the electromagnetic wave data to an identification representation of the object.
8. 8 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the structural changes do not physically form an alpha-numeric character or a symbol.
9. 9 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the tag is embedded in a micro- electronic component.
10. 10 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the tag is embedded in a pharmaceutical.
11. 11 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the tag is embedded in a piece of jewelry.
12. 12 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the tag is embedded in a time piece.
13. 13 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the tag is embedded in an aerospace component.
14. 14 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the tag comprises a plurality of states and has a state density of at least 10 20 states for each 1 millimeter 2 of cross-sectional area.
15. 15 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the distinct interaction comprises a distinct reflection.
16. 16 . A system for authenticating an object, the system comprising: at least one terahertz light source configured for reading a tag, the tag comprising structural changes to the object in a region beneath an exterior surface of the object, the structural changes being responsive to terahertz electromagnetic waves, the structural changes comprising a plurality of distinct depth levels; and a processor configured to (i) receive electromagnetic wave data resulting from a distinct interaction of the terahertz electromagnetic waves with the structural changes, the electromagnetic wave data comprising a terahertz time-domain signal and a terahertz intensity-domain signal in accordance with an identification mark coding, (ii) compare the electromagnetic wave data to a reference standard, (iii) determine that the object is authentic in response to the electromagnetic wave data meeting the reference standard, and (iv) determine that the object is not authentic in response to the electromagnetic wave data not meeting the reference standard; wherein the processor is further configured to extract a time- of-arrival time for terahertz interaction waves corresponding to the plurality of distinct depth levels for the terahertz time-domain signal and an intensity for the terahertz interaction waves corresponding to the plurality of distinct depth levels for the terahertz intensity-domain signal.
17. 17 . The system according to claim 16 , wherein the tag comprises a plurality of states and has a state density of at least 10 20 states for each 1 millimeter 2 of cross-sectional area.
18. 18 . The system according to claim 16 , wherein a distance between adjacent depth steps is less than or equal to 500 micrometers.
19. 19 . The system according to claim 16 , wherein the distinct interaction comprises a distinct reflection.
20. 20 . A system for reading a tag of an object, the system comprising: at least one terahertz light source configured for interacting with the tag, the tag comprising structural changes to the object in a region beneath an exterior surface of the object, the structural changes comprising a plurality of distinct depth levels that are responsive to terahertz electromagnetic waves; a processor configured to correlate electromagnetic wave data obtained from a distinct interaction of the terahertz electromagnetic waves with the structural changes to an identification representation of the object, the electromagnetic wave data comprising a terahertz time-domain and intensity-domain signal; wherein the system is configured as at least one of a desktop unit, a portable unit, a handheld unit, or a handheld unit in communication with a base unit having components in support of the handheld unit.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/517,173, filed on Aug. 2, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention disclosed herein relates to authentication and traceability, and in particular to methods and apparatus for covert marking of goods. 2. Description of the Related Art Counterfeit products pose significant economic, security, and health risks. One approach to mitigate these risks involves establishing product provenance by tracing them back to their manufacturing origins. However, current identification methods, such as barcodes and RFIDs, have limitations that make them vulnerable to counterfeiting. Similarly, nonvolatile memories (NVMs), physically unclonable functions (PUFs), and emerging techniques like Diamond Unclonable Security Tag (DUST) and DNA fingerprinting also have their own limitations and challenges. For a traceability solution to gain widespread adoption, it must meet certain criteria, including being inexpensive, unique, immutable, easily readable, standardized, and unclonable. Thus, what are needed are methods and apparatus that provide inexpensive, unique, immutable, easily readable, standardized, and unclonable solutions for authentication and traceability. Preferably, the markings are clandestine and not readily available or apparent to the unaided observer. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Disclosed is a solution that uses ultrashort pulsed lasers to create unique, unclonable, and immutable physical tags. These tags can then be read nondestructively using far-field Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. The disclosed technology may serve as a solution for a wide range of traceability applications. Disclosed is a system for authenticating an object. The system includes at least one laser configured for interacting with a tag, the tag comprising structural changes to the object, the structural changes being responsive to terahertz electromagnetic waves. Also disclosed is a system for authenticating an object. The system includes at least one laser configured for interacting with a tag, the tag comprising structural changes to the object, the structural changes being responsive to terahertz electromagnetic waves. The system also includes a processor configured to (i) receive electromagnetic wave data resulting from interaction of the terahertz electromagnetic waves with the structural changes, (ii) compare the electromagnetic wave data to a reference standard, (iii) determine that the object is authentic in response to the electromagnetic wave data meeting the reference standard, and (iv) determine that the object is not authentic in response to the electromagnetic wave data not meeting the reference standard. Further disclosed is a system for reading a tag of an object. The system includes at least one laser configured for interacting with the authentication tag, the tag comprising structural changes to the object, the structural changes being responsive to terahertz electromagnetic waves, wherein the structural changes are at at least one at a surface of the object or at an area subsurface to the object. The system also includes a processor configured to correlate electromagnetic wave data obtained from received terahertz electromagnetic waves that have interacted with the structural changes to an identification representation of the object. The system can be configured as at least one of a desktop unit, a portable unit, a handheld unit, or a handheld unit in communication with a base unit having components in support of the handheld unit. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram depicting an overview of a tag embedment system and a tag reading system for employing the technology; FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting further aspects of an exemplary embodiment of a laser system for engraving structural changes in an object for a tag; FIG. 3 depicts aspects of an exemplary setup for reading tags; FIGS. 4A and 4B, collectively referred to herein as FIG. 4, illustrates an appearance of created tags as obtained by a laser scanning confocal microscope and a representation of data obtained from a Terahertz reader after analysis; FIG. 5 is a plot of arrival time used for determining a height map; FIG. 6 is an abstraction that depicts reflections of different portions of the beam by surfaces at different heights; FIG. 7 depicts aspects of a scanning direction for capturing both sides of an edge of a depth change; FIG. 8 depicts aspects of a confocal map for stripe patterns and associated terahertz time domain spectroscopy signals; FIG. 9 depicts aspects of a heat map of arrival times and terahertz time domain spectroscopy signals for a specific column of pixels; F