Research: smartphone-readable microparticles could crack down on counterfeiting

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA have invented a new type of tiny, smartphone-readable particle that they believe could be deployed to help authenticate products. The particles, which are invisible to the naked eye, contain colored stripes of nanocrystals that glow brightly when lit up with near-infrared light.
These particles can easily be manufactured and integrated into a variety of materials, for example in drug packaging during the manufacturing process. They could also be equipped with sensors that can “record” their environments. An article about the research was published in Nature Materials (News Item MIT, 13 April 2014).
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Click here for an abstract of the published article.

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