Generation of nanoscale anticounterfeiting patterns on silicon by optical trap assisted nanopatterning

T.-H. Chen, Y.-C. Tsai, R. Fardel and C. B. Arnold

Among the different strategies aimed at protecting products from counterfeiting, hidden security patterns are used by manufacturers to mark their products in a unique way. However, most anticounterfeiting patterns bear the risk of being reproduced by an unauthorized party who has gained knowledge of the exact technique and process parameters. In this paper, we use optical trap assisted nanopatterning to create unique security markings by taking advantage of statistical fluctuations when generating nanoscale features within the pattern. We image the patterns by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy and propose a three-level examination process that allows for an efficient yet highly secure authentication.

DOI

Optical trap assisted laser nanostructuring in the near-field of microparticles

Ulf Quentin, Karl-Heinz Leitz, Lutz Deichmann, Ilya Alexeev, and Michael Schmidt

Particle based near-field nanostructuring is an excellent possibility to overcome the optical diffraction limit in laser based material processing. In the near-field of microspheres which are irradiated with pulsed laser radiation, it is possible to generate nanoholes with diameters below 100 nm using a laser wavelength of 800 nm. To improve this approach, it is possible to position the microparticles with an optical trap to generate arbitrary structure geometries. In this paper, the authors describe the basic principle of optical trap assisted nanostructuring and present simulational and experimental results demonstrating the potential of this innovative nanoscale optical material processing technology.

DOI