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Authentication · Brand protection · Traceability

Put the identity inside the product.

Intelligent Material is a patented rare-earth crystal that becomes part of the ink, plastic, fiber or label. Shine the right light on it and it answers with an optical signature that a printer, a label maker or a counterfeiter cannot reproduce.

See it in real productsTalk to us
iQINFRARED · INVISIBLEINKJET CODEOPTICAL SIGNATUREMATCH 0.98 · CRYSTAL H1GenuineLot 7A31 · vial 0418Case parent: C-2209First scan · pharmacyexample recordIllustration. Infrared beam drawn in false color.
100Bbanknotes protected
5M tonsof fiber protected
3Bsurgical-supply units secured
~5 ppmis enough to read in a finished fiber

Volumes: NovaVera customer data, 2025.

Three layers, one material

Overt for everyone. Covert for the trade. Forensic for proof.

Holograms and printed codes can be copied. A crystal grown to a precise recipe cannot be. Intelligent Material lets one product carry three levels of check, so each person in the chain uses the tool that fits their job.

Overt

By eye

Holographic and visual features anyone can check: a consumer, a nurse, a store clerk.

Covert

By phone

A smartphone app excites the crystal and confirms it is there, then checks the unit's code against its record.

Forensic

By reader

A handheld reader measures the full optical signature: which crystal, how much, and whether it matches the lot.

Optical fingerprint

Ask the product more than one question.

Two materials can glow the same color and still be different. A reader asks several questions: which colors come back, how long the glow lasts after the light switches off, and how the glow changes as the light gets stronger. A genuine unit answers every question right. Try it on four samples.

Genuine1 / 1
Caught0 / 3

Every fake passes at least one question. Only all three together catch all three fakes. Schematic: a real reader asks more questions, and exactly which ones stays private.

Case studies

Two products, two kinds of proof.

Counterfeiting is only one question. Sometimes the question is whether a package was opened, or whether a note is what it claims to be. These are two places Intelligent Material is answering it today.

Illustration Crystal in the seal adhesive · about 0.001% SEALINTACT ✓
Surgical supplies

Proof the sterile package was never opened.

Intelligent Material goes into the adhesive that seals the Tyvek lid of surgical packaging, at about 0.001%. A reader checks the seal and shows whether the package has been tampered with.

That is a bigger question than "is this genuine?" It tells the operating room that the scalpel inside has not been exposed and is still sterile. Readers are now being distributed to hospitals.

3B units secured in 20250.001% in the adhesiveReaders going to hospitals
Illustration 100100 ↙ UV LIGHT↑ glows red: the stripe answers
Banknotes

A 70-year story that started in our building.

The ultraviolet-to-red luminescent material in the security stripe of the U.S. $100 note was invented at RCA Laboratories in Princeton, in the building where IMS works today, about 70 years ago. The two-photon upconverter, infrared light in and visible light out, was also pioneered here, by Neil Yocom and his RCA colleagues (see the 1971 paper).

The materials have advanced enormously since then. For security reasons we cannot describe how they are used in currency today.

100B banknotes protectedInvented at RCA LaboratoriesDetails stay private
New · LightMap™Every item, its own night sky.The random pattern of crystals in each mark is captured on the line, signed and printed over the barcode: authentication with no database. Works on circuit boards too. See LightMap™ →

Invisible inkjet · on the line you already run

Print the invisible. Two ways.

The same crystal ink prints a data-matrix code, serial number or logo that disappears in daylight, glows under UV and carries a covert crystal layer only our reader can confirm. Drop it into an HP45 cartridge, or run it continuously with UV curing, without ever touching the product.

HP45 CRYSTAL INK thermal inkjet standard cartridge UV INKJET CONTINUOUS UV LED cure air gap · never touches UV LIGHT Code glows PRINTED 0
Light
On the line
Illustration
Method 1

HP45 thermal inkjet cartridges

Crystal ink in a standard HP45-format thermal cartridge. It drops into the coder already on your line or a desktop printer for samples. No new station, no new head.

  • Demonstrated at 800 units a minute on pharmaceutical vials
  • Crystals about 0.3 µm, small enough to jet without clogging. Conventional security phosphors are a micron and larger, too big for inkjet heads
  • Two layers in one mark: a UV-visible code anyone with a flashlight can check, and a covert crystal only our reader can measure
  • Data-matrix, QR, serial numbers, lot codes and logos

Best for: cartons, labels, vials, caps and paper, and pilot runs that start on a desk and move to the line unchanged.

Print a sample on your product
On the vial lineAn invisible data-matrix code printed from a standard thermal inkjet cartridge, glowing under UV.
On the bottling lineThe printed code glows under UV; the covert layer answers only the reader. Printed at full line speed.

Formats and lifecycle

Give the product an identity when you make it.

The identity goes in as part of the material and lasts from raw material to the end of the product's life. That makes one investment useful to operations, quality, the supply chain and the brand.

Electron micrograph of uniform hexagonal crystalsInks and coatingsInkjet, flexo, offset, varnish
Crystal masterbatch pelletsPlasticsMasterbatch for molding and extrusion
Electron micrograph of uniform crystal rodsFibersAdded with a process ingredient
Holographic tamper label on a cartonLabels and hologramsOvert, covert and forensic in one
01Process and concentration control
02Machine and line traceability
03Quality and failure analysis
04Supply-chain verification
05Brand protection and anti-counterfeit
06End-of-life sorting and recycling

See it working

Serialization, smartphones and Intelligent ID.

The reader can be the device already in your pocket: near-infrared excitation and a mobile optical sensor turn a smartphone-class device into a reader (US 12,130,232 B2). The identity becomes one more authentication factor, built into the object itself.

Serialization + crystallizationMaterial identity inside a printed serialization workflow.
Authentication use caseFrom manufacturing to verification.
Smartphone applicationExcite, capture and decide on a phone.
Intelligent IDThe material as an authentication factor.

Implementation

How deployment works.

NovaVera fits into the manufacturing and supply chain you already run. A typical engagement moves from technical evaluation to full production in about four months, in four structured, low-disruption steps, and you decide after each one whether to go on.

  1. 01
    Weeks 1–2

    Discovery & Fit Assessment

    We evaluate your product substrates, manufacturing process and authentication requirements in a working session with our scientists. Most common materials (ink, fiber, plastic, film) are fully supported.

    You getA written fit assessment, the recommended crystal and the detection method for your process.
    Decision pointgo on, adjust, or stop
  2. 02
    Weeks 3–16

    Material Integration & Pilot

    Intelligent Material® goes into samples of your own ink, plastic, fiber or adhesive (3–6 weeks in our lab), then into your production line at low concentration. We validate signal consistency and detection accuracy before full deployment.

    You getTest data on your own samples, then pilot batches read successfully on your line.
    Decision pointgo on, adjust, or stop
  3. 03
    Alongside the pilot

    Detection Workflow Setup

    Readers, the phone app and tracking software are configured for your verification points: manufacturing, distribution or point of sale, based on your supply chain.

    You getReaders in hand, checkpoints defined, and the people who check trained.
    Decision pointgo on, adjust, or stop
  4. 04
    About 4 months from start

    Production Rollout & Support

    Full-scale production begins, with NovaVera providing ongoing technical support, calibration and platform updates as your program scales. Supply runs under a long-term solution contract or a short-term data-collection contract.

    You getA supply agreement, a quality plan under our ISO 9001 system, and a named team.
A fraction of a cent per item. The crystal works at parts-per-million loadings in an ink, plastic, fiber or adhesive you already use. Safety and technical data sheets are available under NDA.
Start with a fit assessment
Next solutionTraceabilityOrigin, plant, batch and item, carried in the material. See it workingIndustriesPharma, spirits, eyewear, metals, gold, banknotes and more.

Defend product integrity.

NovaVera works with central banks, pharmaceutical manufacturers, brand owners and more, from the first sample to full production. Tell us what you need to protect. We reply within two business days.

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