3D Printed Anti-counterfeiting Labels At the Microscale

Principal Investigator: Professor Ji Tae KIM (Associate Professor from Department of Mechanical Engineering)

This project is showcased in the third exhibition – Technology for Future.

About the scholar

Professor Ji Tae KIM

Research interests:
• Nanoscale additive manufacturing for electronics photonics, and quantum science

Email: jtkim@hku.hk
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/kimlabhku

Project information
Counterfeiting threatens the global economy and security. According the report issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2020 “the value of global counterfeiting and pirated products is estimated US $ 4.5 trillion a year.” Despite enormous efforts, conventional anti-counterfeiting approaches such as QR codes can be easily fabricated due to limited data encryption capacity on a 2D in-plane space. How can we increase the encryption density in a limited space?

Novelty

  • Microscale size, three-dimensional configuration
  • Multi-channel information encryption with large capacity
Project video
Project images
3D printed fluorescent QR code for Dr Kim's group website compared with human hair
Three-dimensional configuration of the printed structure. Each segment represents one pixel in the 2D QR code.
Undistinguishable 3D printed vertical stacked pixel matrix under optical microscope
Fluorescent QR code in green
Fluorescent QR code in red
Fluorescent QR code in blue
Other projects
Exhibition Mainpage