Article in ACS Photonics

Abdur Rehman Anwar, Maruša Mur, and Matjaž Humar from the Department of Condensed Matter Physics F5 have published a review paper in ACS Photonics entitled Microcavity- and Microlaser-Based Optical Barcoding: A Review of Encoding Techniques and Applications. In the paper they review the potential of microcavity- and microlaser-based barcodes for a broad range of applications such as cell tracking, anticounterfeiting, and product labeling. In microcavity-based barcodes the information is encoded in various ways in the properties of the emitted light, most frequently in the spectrum. Spectra of microcavity- and microlaser-based barcodes contain very narrow spectral lines and depend on properties of the microcavity, such as size, shape, and gain material, therefore enabling generation of millions of unique barcodes. Microcavity- and microlaser-based barcoding is a very powerful tool which holds great promise. By developing new kinds of microcavities as well as optical systems for their detection, they could become both a tool in research as well as useful for labeling products in everyday life.