Unique patterns made from tiny, randomly scattered silver
nanowires have been created by a group of researchers from South Korea in an
attempt to authenticate goods and tackle the growing problem of counterfeiting.
The nanoscale ‘fingerprints’ are made by randomly dumping 20
to 30 individual nanowires, each with an average length of 10 to 50 µm, onto a
thin plastic film, and could be used to tag a variety of goods from electronics
and drugs to credit cards and bank notes.