{"id":8884,"date":"2023-11-27T14:05:47","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T14:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/how-do-you-hide-secret-codes-in-diamonds-space-lasers\/"},"modified":"2023-11-27T14:05:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T14:05:47","slug":"how-do-you-hide-secret-codes-in-diamonds-space-lasers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=8884","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Hide Secret Codes In Diamonds? Space Lasers!"},"content":{"rendered":"


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If you\u2019ve ever bought an engagement ring, or any other diamond jewelry, you likely know about the \u201cFour Cs\u201d: carat, cut, color, and clarity, which between them determine the quality of a gem. The unofficial fifth C is certification\u2014paperwork from an independent authority validating the qualities and authenticity of a stone. Now, however, a UK startup is aiming to bring yet another C into the mix: code.<\/p>\n

Opsydia<\/a>, a company spun out in 2017 from research conducted at the University of Oxford, is pioneering the laser inscription of near-invisible identifier codes\u2014what it calls \u201cnano-IDs\u201d\u2014inside<\/em> diamonds.<\/p>\n

Each nano-ID consists of a series of submicron-size dots that are imprinted a fifth of a millimeter beneath the gem\u2019s surface, the dots forming a numerical code that\u2019s linked to official certification documents or (increasingly) blockchain ledgers.<\/p>\n

Crucially, such an identifier doesn\u2019t come close to registering as the kind of mark that would impact a stone\u2019s quality. Magnification of at least 200X and specifically designed illumination is needed just to spot these subsurface codes. For comparison, specialists in diamond grading laboratories work with between 40X and 80X magnification; a jeweler\u2019s loupe<\/a> offers considerably less.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the dots are under 1 micron in all dimensions, it\u2019s actually incredibly difficult to characterize the kind of physical change that\u2019s there\u2014it\u2019s close to doing nothing at all,\u201d says Lewis Fish, Opsydia\u2019s head of product, pointing to a 5-mm diamond inscribed with a nano-ID. \u201cWe sent that for checking to one of the leading grading laboratories, and they knew the code was there\u2014but they couldn\u2019t find it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using lasers to inscribe tiny codes and even logos onto diamonds is not in itself new. Usually placed on the stone\u2019s girdle (a narrow band at the outer perimeter, dividing upper and lower sections), these have been on offer from grading labs and other providers since the 1980s. But the codes\u2019 surface positioning is also their weakness: They can be polished off. Also, once set in a piece of jewelry they may be obscured.<\/p>\n

The proliferation of laser technology, meanwhile, means that bad actors can inscribe either fake codes\u2014for instance, assigning a serial number wrongly designating a higher quality of stone, or indeed labeling a lab-grown diamond as natural\u2014or counterfeit versions of the logos of official laboratories and institutions.<\/p>\n

Dynamite With a Laser Beam<\/p>\n

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