RU2644121C2 - Method of hidden small-invasive marking of object for its identification - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: method involves entering identification marks in the form of additional atoms of the substance different (contrast) or similar regarding the product in the subsurface layer of the product, in contrast to the methods of additional, with respect to the product, a media - labels, tags, chips, etc. A marker - a device for application of minimally invasive (not violating fundamental functional properties) hidden identification marks on the product - combines and applies an identification mark. Combinations, depending on the tasks, are presented in random combinations of the following components: a graphic picture of the different types of barcode, an information field. The components applied directly to the product can be either 2- or 3-dimensional. In addition, the components of marks can consist of the same type of atoms or atoms of different types. In terms of colour, this means the possibility of applying one-colour or multi-colour identification marks. The application of the barcode is regulated by the accepted norms. The information field of the mark is filled with the image of the pre-coded text with the required density (up to the maximum possible for the marker) of the recording. The most important consequence of the introduction of inventions is virtually complete exclusion of counterfeit and substandard products from circulation, fake, replacement, or other unlawful acts with the specified objects.

EFFECT: identification marks formed in the subsurface layer of the product due to the creation of nanoclusters of additional substances that are hidden and invisible to the naked eye, meet the requirements for protection, are durable and retain a high resistance to conditions.

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Description

The following marking options are known in the art based on the patents WO 2012128659 A1, WO 2009017433 A1 (RU 2373307) and RU 2199447.

Patent WO 2012128659 A1 describes a tool for marking metal products manufactured by industry or obtained as a result of other business activities with the possibility of verifying the legality of their manufacture and their identification, if necessary (in case of accidental destruction of products during operation, etc.).

The proposed method is based on the well-known property of materials to form surface oxide structures as a result of heat exposure. The identification mark is applied using a local heating source (for example, a laser) on the surface of the metal product. The formation of a graphic image or barcode image is carried out due to the formation of nanostructures in the form of oxides of elements that are part of the product material. The formation of the information field is based on the ability of the laser beam to leave a distinctive imprint on the treated surface of metallic materials. Thus, it is possible to use a coding system based on the presence (1) or absence (0) of the imprint of the laser beam. The positioning accuracy of modern, widespread laser systems is 5 μm; the imprint diameter can be obtained up to 50 μm.

The process of forming an encoded message on the surface of an object using a local heating source is controlled by a computer based on previously calculated exposure parameters.

Additional differences of the proposed method are:

- the encoded message includes information in an unlimited volume about the object, containing technological information (grade and composition of the material, critical parameters, operating limits, etc.), information about the manufacturer, date of manufacture, etc .;

- the color of the fingerprint is also taken into account as a parameter for encoding;

- any industrial solid-state laser for marking metals and plastic can be used as a source of local heating;

- the encoded message may further comprise a barcode and / or a visible color image of the logo. As an information medium, character tables are used that are used to encode characters in a computer.

In a symbolic form, any file can be represented - text, graphic, sound or other type.

The encryption of information recorded in the information field is carried out by creating private code tables. A private code table is an IBM character set table in which the components are randomly mixed. The possible number of such private code tables exceeds 10 ⁵⁰⁶ . Thus, it is possible to read the information recorded in the information field only if there is a private code table.

Preparation of an identification mark for laser output is carried out by a special computer program.

Information can be written in the information field containing information about the product, for example, information about the manufacturer, manufacturing date, technological information (grade and composition of the material, critical parameters, operating limits, etc.). The amount of information recorded in the information field is determined only by the size of the area allocated to the information field.

The main disadvantages of the patent WO 2012128659 A1.

1. Limited product range with the ability to create long-term labels due to the impossibility of formation or insufficient stability of oxide clusters formed by a laser pulse.

2. Not very large specific capacity of the label information field - a maximum of 400 bits / sq. Mm, excluding the color component.

3. The insecurity of the tag due to the visibility of its location with the naked eye.

4. Inability to perform remote tag reading.

Patent WO2009017433 Al (RU 2373307) describes a tool for marking valuable products, according to which a durable image (i.e., visible with an optical microscope with a high image quality) is obtained that is optically visible in reflected light, obtained by modifying the marked area of this surface with an ion beam with a given ion energy; in the process of modification, the composition of the surface layer of the base is transformed with a concomitant change in the optical properties of the modified sections relative to the optical properties of the untreated sections of the marked surface, according to the invention, the marked area is modified by a pulsed ion beam through a stencil mask by ion implantation of the modifier into the crystal lattice in the region of the marked portion of the surface base layer without breaking covalent bonds between lattice atoms and, with Responsibly, without disturbing the initial relief of this layer, the mentioned change in the optical properties of the marked area is ensured by using such a material as a modifier, whose ions change the complex refractive index of the base material when they are implanted into its crystal lattice.

Thus, an increase in the imaginary component of the complex refractive index increases the intensity of the reflected radiation. For this purpose, boron ions or inert metal ions are suitable as impurity additives (modifiers) for marking diamond, and the energies of modifier ions should be 5-6 keV.

The main disadvantages of the patent WO 2009017433 A1 (RU 2373307).

1. The lack of flexible spatial control of the ion beam (in particular, the possibility of focusing it) and its energy.

2. As a consequence of paragraph 1 - use for marking only well-polished surfaces.

3. As a consequence of paragraph 1 - the use of a stencil to encode the information applied to the product, which greatly complicates, and ultimately extremely slows down the marking process in a broad sense.

4. The use of a stencil in combination with a wide ion beam leads to adverse side effects on the product, consisting in the distortion (edge effects) of the contours and the introduction of impurities in the label (knocked out atoms of the stencil material).

5. As a consequence of all the preceding paragraphs - the limitation of the range of products suitable for this marking method - only valuable products, mainly precious stones, in particular cut diamonds (diamonds).

6. Inability to remotely read tags.

Patent RU 2199447 describes a means for marking precious stones (diamond, silicon carbide), according to which an image of a durable mark (i.e., visible with an optical microscope with a high image quality with a minimum thickness) is formed on an optically visible in reflected light lines in the marking 2-3 microns) obtained by modifying the marked portion of this surface with a moving focused ion beam with a given radiation dose with practically no spray the substance of the irradiated surface; in the process of modification at a depth of 10-100 nm, the composition of the surface layer of the base is transformed with a concomitant change in the optical properties of the modified sections relative to the optical properties of the untreated sections of the marked surface, according to the invention, the marked section is modified with a focused ion beam moving through the gem by ion implantation of the modifier into the crystal lattice in the region of the marked area of the surface layer of the base without breaking the cove entnyh bonds between atoms of the lattice and, accordingly, substantially without disturbing the original topography of this layer.

The main disadvantages of the patent RU 2199447.

1. The lack of flexible control of the ion beam energy.

2. The lack of flexible control of the time structure of the ion beam.

3. Insufficient accuracy of spatial displacement (step accuracy) of the ion beam.

4. Lack of focus.

5. As a consequence of paragraphs 1-4, there is a limited accuracy in reproducing 2-dimensional thin markings.

6. As a consequence of paragraphs 1-4 - the impossibility of creating distinguishable and interpretable 3-dimensional structures within the surface layer.

7. As a consequence of paragraphs 1-4 - limiting the product range suitable for this marking method - only precious polished (polished) stones, in particular faceted diamonds (diamonds) and precious stones made of silicon carbide.

8. The inability to remotely read markings.

The claimed marking method is intended for marking the surface of objects - from the number of objects (products) obtained as a result of economic activity with the ability to verify the conformity of their characteristics in the identification process, including the manufacturer (legal origin). The method involves entering identification marks in the form of additional atoms of an excellent (contrast) or similar substance, relative to the product, into the surface layer of the product itself. Minimally invasive (not violating the basic functional properties of the product) labels applied directly to the product can be either 2- or 3-dimensional. In addition, labels can consist of atoms of the same type or atoms of different types. In terms of color, this means the possibility of affixing one-color or multi-color identification tags. Identification marks formed in the surface layer of the product due to the creation (introduction) of nanoclusters of additives are invisible (hidden, indistinguishable to the naked eye), meet security requirements, are durable and maintain high resistance to operating conditions.

The method involves reliable remote reading of identification marks by deciphering multi-wavelength correlation interferograms (specklegrams) from photons of a multi-range probe pulse scattered by the studied (generally rough) surface in real time.

The method involves real-time computer recognition of information, comparing it with known information (database records) and modifying known information (database records), if necessary.

The claimed method is as follows. In the marking method, a mark image is formed on the surface that is noticeable in the reflected electromagnetic radiation of the probe pulse by modifying the marked portion of the surface layer of this surface with an ion beam with a given ion energy. In the process of modification, the composition of the surface layer of the base is changed (supplemented) with the possibility of changing the local electromagnetic (electrical and magnetic permeability of the substance) properties of the modified sections with respect to the similar properties of the untreated sections of the marked surface. Modification of the marked region is carried out by a pulsed ion beam with good spatial focusing by implantation of small doses of modifier ions in the surface layers in the region of the marked region of the base without strong destruction of bonds between atoms and, importantly, without disturbing the initial relief of this layer. The indicated change in the electromagnetic properties of the marked area is ensured by using such a material as a modifier, whose ions locally change the reflective properties of the base material when they are implanted in its surface layer.

The reflective characteristics of the base material are optimally changed in the direction of increasing the reflection coefficient, i.e. increase the intensity of reflected radiation.

The implants known to be suitable substances are ions of inert elements of the periodic system (for metals, mainly noble metals). It is practically recommended for the implantation of planar (2-dimensional) impurity additives in the surface layer by using modifier ions with an energy of 5-15 keV, while for applying bulk (3-dimensional) impurity additives, ions with an energy of up to 100 keV are used. The achieved relative accuracy of stabilization of the ion beam energy is currently ~ 10 ^-5 [1].

Thus, in the process of implementing the inventive method, a maximum of a change in the local electromagnetic reflective properties of the material is provided in the region of the modified sections of the marked surface, which actually gives a change in the magnitude of the reflection coefficient, mainly in the direction of increase.

During ion implantation of the modifier ions into the surface of the marked material, it (the material) acquires new properties in the modified areas. In this case, the electric and magnetic permeabilities of the modified sections change dramatically. As a result, when implementing the mark in the claimed way, its image in the reflected electromagnetic beam of the probe pulse looks more intense (light) with respect to the unmodified sections of the surface of the base of the product, since the modified sections have a significantly higher reflection coefficient.

In this regard, the feasibility of small doses when applying the label is obvious, since it is applied without removing the material and without serious violations of the integrity of the surface of the product. That is, it is useful to have a label obtained by changing the structure and / or composition of the material by modifying the source material in the areas forming the image of the label, and, as a result, a sharp increase in the reflection coefficient in the modified areas.

With ion implantation implemented in the claimed invention, the surface quality is practically not affected, i.e. violation of the surface topography is absent.

The mode of ion implantation without breaking the initial interatomic bonds of the material surface is determined by the following process parameters.

The energy of a single ion used for implantation is limited by the depth of labeling. In the planar (2-dimensional) case, with the depth of the mark within 5-10 nm, the energy of the ions used should be in the range of 5-15 keV. In the volumetric (3-dimensional) case, with the depth of the mark within 5-50 nm, the energy of the ions used should be in the range of 5-100 keV.

The implantation mode under discussion is also determined by the dose density of implanted ions, i.e. the number of implanted ions per surface unit.

In addition, the mode under discussion is also characterized by the intensity of ion implantation, i.e. dose of implanted ions per unit time. Sufficient flexibility to control the intensity is ensured, including the duration of an individual bunch (bunch) of the ion beam, which can be about 1 ns [2].

The mode under discussion is also characterized by the possibility of rapid spatial displacement of the center of the beam of implantable ions on the marked material, i.e. the ability to scan an ion beam of marked material with a step of the order of 1 μm [2].

Along with the intensity, the mode under discussion is characterized by the exact spatial positioning of the center of the implantable ion beam on the marked material — the standard deviation is 1 μm [2].

Also, the mode under discussion is characterized by good spatial focusing of the beam of implantable ions on the marked material, i.e. the minimum spatial dispersion of ions relative to the center with a standard deviation of the order of 1 μm [2].

Thus, for the formation of the claimed mark (minimally invasive mark, practically without violating the integrity of the surface layer) in the product surface, it is necessary to operate with the above technological parameters, which can be obtained with pulsed (minimum pulse (bunch) ~ 1 ns) surface irradiation, well positioned (achieved accuracy ~ 1 μm), focused ion beam (achieved focusing accuracy -1 μm) with the possibility of spatial scanning (achieved accuracy scanning aga ~ 1 micron) and the dynamic control of the beam energy (relative accuracy achieved stabilization of beam energy of ~ 10 ^-5).

A small-sized image of a label in the general case (i.e., for a wide range of products both in composition, surface quality and size) can be reliably detected only when sensing by reflected scattered radiation only with the simultaneous use of coherent emitters and receivers in several ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum from the following set: microwave, terahertz, infrared, visible (for the definition of the range boundaries, see, for example, "Electromagnetic radiation", "Electromagnetic spectrum" (section "Electrom agrarian terahertz radiation ”),“ Microwave radiation (microwave radiation) ”on the website https://ru.wikipedia.org/), which provides reliable remote reading of identification marks with a spatial resolution of ~ λ / 20 (here λ is the wavelength of the corresponding spectral components of a multicomponent probe pulse from the above set of ranges) by decoding multiwave correlation interferograms (specklegrams) from photons of the probe pulse scattered (in the general case by a rough) surface of the product in real time.

Part of the incident radiation of the probe pulse reflected from the modified sections is observed in different ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum even with a depth of the modified material layer from several nanometers to tens of nanometers.

The propagation of probe radiation to a sufficient depth in the surface layer of non-conductive or weakly conductive materials does not cause difficulties - these mechanisms are known from the physics of dielectrics. The penetration of an electromagnetic wave into a well-conducting material (metal) is limited by the skin effect, but even in this case, the penetration depth is sufficient for reliable sensing of the applied marks, for example, for waves of a much shorter wavelength than visible light (λ ~ 10 ^-8 m tens of nm) - the penetration depth (the depth at which the amplitude of the electromagnetic wave decreases by "e" times) is ~ 4⋅10 ^-9 m (4 nm).

A thin film of contamination, which always forms on the surface of the base of the product, is electromagnetically transparent for both reflected and incident radiation and weakly affects the contrast of the mark obtained by the claimed method, which is a significant advantage.

Guaranteed reflection from the modified parts of the incident radiation of the probe pulse provides reliable remote reading of identification marks with a spatial resolution of ~ λ / 20 (here λ is the wavelength of the corresponding spectral component of the multicomponent probe pulse, so for the infrared component with λ = 6 μm, the resolution is approximately ≈0 , 03 μm) [3] by decoding multiwave correlation interferograms (specklegrams) from photons of a multiband probe pulse, scattering real (generally rough) surface of the product in real time.

For the inventive method, the rate of supply of the beam energy (i.e., the dose of absorbed radiation divided by time) is important. In the claimed method, the dose of absorbed radiation is gained by the base material gradually (pulsed), and therefore the destruction of the surface of the base in the modified areas is excluded, because the radiation dose in one pulse is not enough to break the interatomic bonds in the surface layer of the product material. The irradiation mode is selected empirically. The absence of chemical etching increases the manufacturability of the method. The ion energy determines the minimum depth of the modified layer of several nanometers, sufficient for a long-term, almost equal to the life of the product using the mark on the surface of the product. The label is durable, since the modification of the surface areas of the object with a local change in the values of electric and magnetic permeabilities obtained using pulsed well-positioned and focused ionic inert metal beams leads to a stable change in the composition and structure of the surface with a modified reflection coefficient.

The specific information capacity achieved by recording data identifiable with high reliability by applying minimally invasive identification marks on products is estimated to be up to 1 Mbit / sq. mm in the case of using 2-dimensional (planar) marks and a level of up to 10 Mbit / cu. mm in the case of 3-dimensional (volumetric) marks.

The difference between the proposed method and those declared in RU 2199447 and RU 2373307 is that our method can be used not only for polished surfaces (in particular, precious stones), but also for any hard surfaces. Naturally, this causes significant additional difficulties both when marking the product and when reading it reliably. These difficulties are overcome in our proposed method by using modern experimental (!) Achievements in the field of creation and control of intensity and quality (beam diameter, focus spot diameter, minimum spatial scanning step along the surface, temporal modulation - the duration of the bunch and the period between adjacent pulses and etc.) of ion beams and success in decoding multiwave correlation interferograms (specklegrams) from photons of a multiband probe pulse, scattered and Followed (generally rough) surface in real time, as described recognized by the international scientific community in the modern periodic serious scientific literature [1], [2] and [3].

The claimed marking method for the purpose of subsequent identification fully protects the marked product according to the identification criteria of product protection. Economic investments aimed at counterfeiting the mark applied by the proposed method will far exceed the cost of the mark, since in addition to the cost of equipment, they will also include the cost of developing many new technologies. The proposed method of marking implements a multi-level algorithm for protecting products while maintaining the highest label resistance to external conditions at different stages of the life cycle with full functionality of the products.

From a practical point of view, some specific features of the tag itself and the information included in the tag:

- the density of the application of information even in the 2-dimensional case is up to 1 Mbit / sq. mm;

- information can be stored on the product during the full life cycle, and this makes it possible to identify products in catastrophic situations;

- the functionality of the products is practically unlimited;

- insensitivity to electromagnetic pulses, radio interference, etc .;

- the remote nature of reading tags and information entered with it;

- reading and interpretation of the label and the information component of the label in almost real time;

- an almost infinite (> ^10,500 ) number of encoding options (code tables) to protect information;

- extremely complex and costly falsification of tags and information in order to produce counterfeit products.

Thus, the claimed invention can find wide application in various fields of science and technology for recording / reading identification information. In particular, it can be used in such activities as:

1. Automotive industry and the operation of vehicles.

The use of an identification mark seriously improves the degree of protection of parts and the car as a whole, and therefore dramatically reduces the number of thefts of cars and parts.

2. Operation of railway transport.

The use of protected and remotely readable labels (identifiers) of rolling stock units and other marked components and assemblies will allow for quick and universal accounting, as well as allow controlling the movement of each unit throughout the country and optimally allocate resources.

3. Any metal products.

The use of well-protected tags for marking and identification of metal products, as well as inexpensive means of reading and authenticating tags, will dramatically reduce the turnover and creation of counterfeit products, including household appliances, spare parts for cars, airplanes and other critical components and assemblies that will increase the reliability of the operation of technical means and provide reliable logistics of the entire product life cycle.

4. The jewelry industry and art.

The claimed method can find application for marking diamonds (diamonds) and precious metal products, as well as other art objects.

Literature

1. Mous D.J.W. et al. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Phys. Res. B 130 31 (1997).

2. Matsuyama S. et al. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Phys. Res. B 260 55 (2007).

3. Ryabuho V.P. “Speckle Interferometry”, Soros Educational Journal, Volume 7, No. 5, 2001.

Claims (2)

1. A method of marking the surface of solid products with both polished and unpolished surfaces, according to which a small-sized image of the mark is created in the surface layer with impurity additives, applied by modifying the marked area of this surface using an ion beam of a contrast medium (chemical element), with the reflection the scattering properties of the modified portion with respect to the reflective-scattering properties of the untreated sections of the marked surface, mod Marking of the marked area is carried out by ion implantation of the modifier in the region of the marked area of the near-surface layer of the base without breaking the interatomic bonds and, accordingly, without seriously breaking the initial relief of the surface layer, and the mentioned change in the reflective-scattering properties of the marked area is achieved by using such (contrast) as a modifier a material whose ions only locally change the electric and magnetic permeabilities of the base material during and plantations in its atomic structure as impurity additives, characterized in that to improve the quality of marking as impurity additives, substances (elements of the periodic system) are used that give a contrast image of the label on the surface for a given base material, in particular ions of inert substances (elements), which are selected empirically and implanted into the atomic structure of the surface layer of the product by using modifier ions in two modes - with energies in the range of 5-15 keV for applying 2-mer s (planar) with the density information marks to 1 Mbit / sq. mm and ions with energies up to 100 keV when applying 3-dimensional (volumetric) labels with an information density of up to 10 Mbit / sq. mm using a pulsed ion beam with variable (controlled) energy and the number of ions in a pulse focused on the surface of the product into a spot with a minimum diameter of 1 μm and moved across the surface of the product with a minimum step size of 1 μm. 2. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that the small-sized image of the label is reliably detected when sensing by reflected-scattered radiation only with the simultaneous use of coherent emitters and receivers at once in several ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum from the following set: microwave, terahertz, infrared, visible, which provides reliable remote reading of identification tags with a spatial resolution of ~ λ / 20 (here λ is the wavelength of the corresponding spectral component of the multicomponent ondiruyuschego pulse from the above ranges set) by decrypting multiwavelength correlation interferogram (speklogramm) of photon probe pulse scattered (generally rough) surface of the product in real time.