Invisible QR Codes Tackle Counterfeit Bank Notes and Other Security Applications

LONDON—Sept. 12, 2012—An invisible quick response (QR) code has been created by researchers in an attempt to increase security on printed documents and reduce the possibility of counterfeiting, a problem that costs governments and private industries billions of pounds each year.

Publishing their research today in IOP Publishing’s journal Nanotechnology, the researchers from the University of South Dakota and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology believe the new style of QR code could also be used to authenticate virtually any solid object.