Printed Phosphor Security Feature for Mobile Authenticity Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current security features for documents like banknotes and ID cards are difficult to verify trustworthily and tamper-proof using widely available devices, especially for end-users, as complex emission properties require expensive test devices typically found in central banks, lacking simple arrangements for on-the-go verification with smartphones.
Innovation Solution
A method using a printed security feature with a first invisible and a second visible pattern, where the invisible pattern is excited to luminescence by electromagnetic radiation, allowing multiple images to be recorded and compared with reference images to verify authenticity and integrity using a mobile device's image acquisition and processing unit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex emission properties are integrated into printable phosphors for security features, then security document authenticity verification becomes more reliable, but verification equipment becomes expensive and complicated, limiting availability to only central banks
Solution Approach 1:
The security feature is divided into multiple printable phosphor layers with distinct emission properties. Each layer responds to specific excitation wavelengths with characteristic emission patterns. This segmentation allows verification using simple sequential imaging at different wavelengths, replacing complex single-step verification systems while maintaining high reliability through multi-layer pattern analysis
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates optical copies of security features that can be captured by standard smartphone cameras. By encoding authentication information in the spatial and spectral patterns of multiple phosphor layers, the system copies complex verification data into forms that can be read by simple devices, eliminating the need for expensive specialized equipment while preserving authentication reliability
2Reliability
If security features use advanced luminescence properties for tamper-proof verification, then security against counterfeiting improves, but the cost and complexity of verification devices increases, making them unavailable to end users
Solution Approach 1:
The security feature design uses multiple phosphor layers with different excitation and emission characteristics that can be verified by various devices ranging from simple smartphones to sophisticated laboratory equipment. This multi-functionality ensures the same security feature provides tamper-proof verification accessible to both end users with basic devices and authorities with advanced systems, eliminating the accessibility barrier
Solution Approach 2:
The invention exploits changes in luminescence parameters (emission wavelength, intensity, decay time) of multiple phosphor layers under different excitation conditions. These parameter changes create unique authentication patterns that can be detected by simple sensors in smartphones, making advanced tamper-proof verification accessible to end users without requiring complex equipment
3Measurement precision
If multiple individual images are captured at defined time intervals for verification, then authentication accuracy improves through pattern comparison, but verification time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The verification system captures multiple images at defined time intervals during a single rapid illumination event. The periodic capture of luminescence decay patterns at different time points provides rich authentication data for high-accuracy pattern comparison, while the entire sequence occurs within seconds, minimizing perceived verification time and balancing accuracy with speed
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables quick and easy verification of security documents using widely available mobile devices, allowing end-users to confirm authenticity and integrity on the go, with the ability to apply this feature to various security documents and objects, providing a trustworthy and tamper-proof solution.
Implementation Method 1
The first printing substance can be excited to luminescence by electromagnetic radiation of a predetermined wavelength, so that the first printing substance emits non-visible radiation
Implementation Method 2
The first printing substance can be excited to luminescence by electromagnetic radiation of a predetermined wavelength
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for checking the authenticity and/or integrity of a security document (01) having a printed security feature. The method comprises the steps of: irradiating the security document (01) with electromagnetic radiation, recording a plurality of individual images at temporally defined intervals by means of a mobile terminal device (06), checking the captured individual images by means of a data processing unit and outputting the results of the checking. The invention further relates to a printed security feature (02) for a security document (01) and to an arrangement for checking the authenticity and/or integrity of a security document (01).