The goal of this project is to create a physical security system that uses nanofabrication to make keys that are irreproducible and work in parallel with other forms of authentication. The optical transmission spectra of the nanofabricated keys contain identifying information used to authenticate the key-owner. Few companies or individuals have access to tools that can fabricate keys with nanometer-scale thin films. Furthermore, uncontrollable and random fabrication variations create uniqueness in the keys, meaning that a key cannot be reproduced by an attacker. Thus, by creating a nanopatterned key, we greatly reduce the risk of counterfeiting compared to physical security systems on the market. In addition to the physical key, we designed a verification system on a raspberry pi 4 board to authorize and authenticate spectra from our keys.

Team Members

Jim Foster, Teddy Hsieh, Rithvik Ramesh, Vivian Rogers, Anthony Salazar