Abstract
Fingerprint biometrics is a valuable and convenient security tool; every fingerprint is highly detailed and unique, we always have them on “hand”. Herein we describe a novel bench-top method of making 3D fingerprint replicas (namely, fingerprint phantoms) by exploring a unique microfabrication approach using conventional polymeric materials, to aid the development of reliable and accurate fingerprint biometrics. By pressing an impression of human fingerprints onto solvent-softened plastic plates (e.g., polycarbonate chips), followed by casting with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, a popular elastomer), we can produce a flexible, nanoscale detailed, 3D reproduction of the fingerprint (“phantom”). By testing with standard optical fingerprint scanners, we have shown that all three levels of fingerprint details can be precisely recorded and match well with the original fingerprint. Superior to artificial fingerprint patterns, these phantoms have the exact 3D features of fingerprints and introduce no variability compared to human sampling, which make them perfect targets for standardizing fingerprint scanners and for biometric applications. We envision that the microcontact replication protocol via unconventional PC molding promises a practical, bench-top, instrumentation-free method to mass reproduce many other micro/nanostructures with high fidelity.
Highlights
Fingerprint scanners are supposed to be robust to accommodate a wide range of user conditions, and accurate to ensure correct fingerprint matching, which are facing challenges of spoofing and attacking with “synthetic” fingerprints[3]
The development of patterned phantoms to test fingerprint scanners has been in demand due to the exponential increase of adapting fingerprint biometric systems for both stationary and mobile electronics as mentioned above[1,2,6]
Another notable progress in this field is the development of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) phantoms molded from a simulated ridge pattern etched in silicon, which was developed earlier by Lu et al to test ultrasounic fingerprint scanners[11]
Summary
Fingerprint scanners are supposed to be robust to accommodate a wide range of user conditions, and accurate to ensure correct fingerprint matching, which are facing challenges of spoofing and attacking with “synthetic” fingerprints[3]. The state-of-the-art approach to fabricate fingerprint phantoms is the adaptation of 3D printing technology and the generation of a 3D image from a 2D fingerprint scan (simulating the ridges)[10] Another notable progress in this field is the development of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) phantoms molded from a simulated ridge pattern etched in silicon, which was developed earlier by Lu et al to test ultrasounic fingerprint scanners[11]. Fingerprint impressions are first molded into a solvent-softened PC substrate (“the mold”), which serves as an enduring template (the “mold”) to cast 3D fingerprint phantoms with PDMS, the most popularly used elastomer for micro/nanofabrication These permanent 3D replicas are derived from real fingerprint impressions with nanoscale features precisely reproduced
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