Anti-Counterfeiting Strength Through Randomness

In the past ten years or so, quantum materials have become increasingly interesting to scientists looking for properties not usually exhibited by classical structures. While most solids display varying degrees of repeatability in the array of atoms from which they are formed, when you get down to the atomic level, where quantum effects are most pronounced, materials display unique attributes due to their randomness.

Using the inherent randomness of quantum materials, a team of scientists at Quantum Base has invented, developed and patented a portfolio of what its claims to be unbreakable nanoscale quantum security devices – which it has labelled Quantum IDs (Q-ID®).

The product range is built on the company’s development of nanoscale quantum physically unclonable functions, in both optical and electronic versions, together with a quantum random number generator.

This theme of anti-counterfeiting strength through randomness was picked up by David Howarth, Director of Engineering at Quantum Base at the Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™ in Malta in May. In his presentation he argued that, due to their inherent quantum randomness, each Q-ID QR code is unbreakable on account of its 100% unique identity or ‘quantum fingerprint’, which is read by a standard smartphone and verified by an app in real time.

In setting out how the technology works, David explained that the quantum materials are suspended in a clear coating, printed onto the surface of a QR code tag and mass produced at scale. Natural imperfections in the materials give each tag a unique ‘quantum fingerprint’, requiring no additional engineering.

To read the tag, the Q-ID app uses the flash on a mobile phone to excite the material in the Q-ID tag, allowing it to confirm its quantum properties and extract the fingerprint, all using a standard smartphone. This authentication can then be linked to a database for further action.

According to Dr Alan Gilchrist, Marketing Director, the company is ‘at late-stage product development with a number of global identity/security players to create our Q-ID Quantum Secure Unique Identities’.