SBIR Phase I: Manufacturing of Encrypting Metallic Powders

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop an anticounterfeiting technology, which is the magnetic analog of thermo-luminescence. This technology makes use of a series of ternary alloys that exhibit a unique first order transition and is based on the iron-rhodium classical antiferromagnetic (AF) to ferromagnetic (F) behavior. Additional alloying elements such as Rhenium, Platinum and Palladium by varying their concentration, enable this transition to be precisely varied in temperature. This material, will be synthesized in perfectly spherical particles ranging in size from 2-10 microns and will be suitable for use in an ink pigment. This capability enables standard ink jet printing to be used, to print a series of complex three dimensional bar codes, two spatial and one in temperature. The bar code will be non magnetic at ambient temperature. In the proposed program the ability of the processing technology to yield compositions and particle sizes which are uniform and small enough to flow in a ink jet printer, will be explored. From a commercial point of view, the cost to the US economy of counterfeiting is conservatively estimated at $200B/year. It is estimated that implementation of this technology would save between 1 to 10% of this figure or up to about $20B/year.