The ability to confirm the authenticity of products has become a paramount need in our world today, especially with the rise of counterfeiting. The most common method often used is radio frequency tags or RFIDs, which confirms the authenticity of a product but at a size and cost disadvantage. However, a new research by the team at MIT, led by Eunseok Lee and Ruonan Han has devised a way to work around this issue and offer a solution that is not only more secure but cheaper and smaller. The innovation is the creation of a cryptographic ID tag using terahertz waves. The tag is several times smaller and more affordable than traditional RFIDs.
Terahertz waves are smaller than radio waves and possess higher frequencies which results in a stronger security offering. However, just like RFIDs, the terahertz tag allows a counterfeiter to peel off the tag from a product and reattach it to a counterfeit product, without detection. To correct this vulnerability, the researchers used terahertz waves to develop a tamper-proof terahertz tag that maintains its small, cheap, and secure benefits.
In the process of creating these tags, microscopic metal particles are intermixed with the adhesive that bonds the tag to the product. Terahertz waves are then used to identify the unique pattern formed by the particles on the surface of the product. This unique pattern operates like a fingerprint, used for product authentication.
In practical use, the researchers have been able to produce an energy-efficient, anti-tamper terahertz tag that is 4 sq mm in size. To detect possible tampering, a machine-learning model was demonstrated to ensure that the glue pattern fingerprints match with over 99% accuracy.
Because of how cheap these tags are, they can be deployed across massive supply chains. Moreover, as they are so tiny, they can be attached to items too small for conventional RFIDs, for instance, certain medical devices.
The researchers anticipate that the terahertz tags with its minuscule size and cost-effectiveness will be embraced massively and assist in solving the counterfeiting problem in supply chains. They look forward to inspiring other researchers to open their minds to what possibilities lie with the use of terahertz waves.
