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AssigneeOxford University Innovation Limited
InventorsChloe Ceren TARTAN, John Sandford O'NEILL, Patrick SALTER, Stephen MORRIS, Miha RAVNIK, Martin BOOTH, Steve ELSTON
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A method is disclosed for authenticating a product. The method comprises: receiving a verification code associated with the product; applying an electric field to a liquid crystal device (100) located in or on the product, the liquid crystal device (100) comprising: a first substrate (105); a second substrate (110) spaced apart from the first substrate (105); a liquid crystal composition (115) located between the first substrate (105) and the second substrate (110); wherein the liquid crystal composition (115) comprises one or more regions (120) of polymerised liquid crystal composition; and a first electrode (125) and a second electrode (130) configured to apply the electric field; comparing a display output by the liquid crystal device (100) in response to the application of the electric field to the verification code associated with the product; wherein, if the display output by the liquid crystal device (100) matches the verification code associated with the product, the product is authenticated.
A method of authenticating a product, the method comprising;
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the polymerised regions are pillars extending partially or fully between the first substrate and second substrate.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the polymerised regions are spaced apart by a distance of at least 2 μm, and optionally spaced apart by a distance of at least 5 μm.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein one or more of the polymerised regions are polymerised under the application of an electric field, and optionally wherein different polymerised regions are polymerised under the application of different electric field strengths.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the polymerised regions are configured to be optically invisible under the application of a pre-determined electric field strength, and optionally wherein the polymerised regions are configured to be optically invisible under both polarised light and unpolarised light.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the verification code is one of a bar code, a QR code, a pattern or an image.
The method of any preceding claim, wherein the verification code is a sequence of verification codes, and the electric field is a sequence of electric fields.
A liquid crystal device comprising;
A method of electrically controlling optical visibility of polymeric structures, the method comprising:
A verification device for verifying a security marking comprising a liquid crystal device, the verification device comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.