TRACER - A new generation of secure barcodes based on polymer membrane lasers

Product counterfeiting is a growing phenomenon with significant impact on European economy. A report published by the European Commission showed that in 2018 more than 27 million articles were suspected of being fraudulent, with the value of the equivalent genuine products estimated at over EUR740 million. The biggest challenge for counterfeiters is how to make sure they integrate their sub-standard product in the legitimate distribution channels and reach the market. Current traceability systems address this problem by using serialised, unique identifiers embedded in barcodes, QR codes or radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags placed on the packaging of the raw materials in the supply chain and the final product to reach the consumer. As the materials and the products move through the supply/distribution chains, tags are scanned and traceability is added as metadata. However, barcodes and QR codes have a significant limitation: they can be easily duplicated or removed/replaced. Within the ERC Starting grant ABLASE (grant agreement ID 640012), my group developed a new class of organic semiconductor lasers, with a key feature: they are flexible. Importantly, these polymer membrane lasers can be used as a security feature. We were able to deploy the lasers as barcodes on banknotes, with excellent stability of the signal. In TRACER, we aim to demonstrate the technical viability of deploying the polymer membrane lasers as barcode-based security features for low volume-high value goods, in a proof of concept implementation backed by thorough market analysis and segmentation, and business strategy.