2019 Review

The Holography Conference Shows Diversity and the Latest Innovations

New Technology Applications of Holography

In the second session, Scott Early from UniK Lasers opened the session with a paper titled ‘High power red & other Single Frequency DPSS lasers as key instruments for Holography.’ The lasers use the patented BRaMMS (Bragg Range Michelson Mode Selector) technology to ensure long term wavelength stability. The latest Solo 640 laser has been designed for holography and includes integrated water cooling, graphical user interface options and laser head covers.

This was followed by a presentation by Dr Paul Dunn from Opsec and IHMA Chairman on ‘The Future for Holographic and Non-holographic OVD Solutions’ who outlined how holography is evolving and can offer a much greater degree of sophistication. However, it is now one of a growing array of security optical features that meets the multi-level security requirement of the current market.

The penultimate paper of the session was given by Prof Nadir Ahmed from Idvac titled ‘Vacuum Metallised Nano Black & Other Coatings with No Inks or Dyes.’ The paper outlined new innovative processes that can now add different colours such as white and black to plain and embossed films using a standard roll to roll metalliser without the need for dyes or inks.

The final paper of the session on Inkjet Metallising was given by Jan Stensborg who outlined a new process for cost effective partial, in-register, in-line print manufacturing of metallised nano and micro-structures. The new process utilises a thermally cured composite metal ink that is designed to form nanometre thin layers that conforms to micro / nanostructured surfaces.

Applications of Holography for Security (parts a and b)

The first paper of day two was presented by Surys founder and president Hugues Souparis on ‘Surface Plasmons – A new Paradigm for DOVID’s.’ Hugues gave a fascinating overview of the evolution of first order diffractive devices from the micro to nano scale prior to outlining the latest plasmonic devices (Plasmogram™ Reverso) that are now industrialised and available for the high security document market such as banknotes.

The second presentation of the session from Diavy’s Alessio Pastorelli outlined the company’s holographic equipment portfolio and their new CDM-R demetallisation machine. This was followed Philippe Gentet’s presentation from Kwangwoon University on a ‘Chimera™ – The New Holographic Solution for Security Applications.’ The paper described the new holoprinter technology, that is now possible to achieve the improbable combination of: low-power, low-cost continuous wave lasers (20 mW) and fast printing.

The last paper of the session was presented by Professor Jacob (Koby) Scheuer from Tel-Aviv University on ‘Holographic anti-counterfeiting tags utilising speckle pattern “fingerprint”: NanoSpeck tags.’ The presentation outlined how holographic metasurfaces incorporating nano-structures are utilised to produce a tag that projects an ‘un-clonable’ speckle pattern (fingerprint) that can be read by a smartphone for authentication.

Part b of the session included five papers on a range of topics beginning with Russian honoured inventor Grigory Radutsky who presented a paper titled ‘Instant Holography – a Single Copy in Seconds’. The paper outlined the development of a new sheet material that contains two parallel metallised diffraction grids and a metallised foil. An instant hologram is then produced when the material interacts with laser pulses.

Demax Holograms presented their latest innovation with a paper titled ‘Security Nano Optical Device for Visual Recognition and Smartphone Verification’. The paper outlined some of the latest features developed using electron beam including a diffractive black structure and the new E-LIDOGRAM Smartcode, which is authenticated using a smartphone and can be used for both labels and hot stamp foiling products.

An update on diffractive foil features on banknote was then provided by Dr David Tidmarsh from Reconnaissance International who outlined the recent trends in hologram usage for banknotes and what competing technologies are now available. This was followed by the penultimate paper of the session by Jan Thiele from Prismade who presented a paper on smart holograms for smartphone based verification. The paper outlined how the latest smart hologram is more secure than camera based systems, does not require the need for additional devices and knowledge about hologram features. Authentication is touch activated and can also work offline.

The final paper of the session was presented by Nuno Gonçalves, from the Portuguese Mint and Official Printing Office, on the ‘Validation of Holograms in the Hands of the Consumer’. The paper outlined the UNIQODE® feature, that utilises random-generated geometric coordinates of a hologram that can be used as a fingerprint and authenticated using a smartphone

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