Open AccessHacking detection based on the elastic properties of liquid crystals in different phases
Author(s) -
JeongSeon Yu,
Jong-Hyun Kim
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.441941
Subject(s) - liquid crystal , intrusion , materials science , optics , phase (matter) , layer (electronics) , block (permutation group theory) , trace (psycholinguistics) , optoelectronics , physics , nanotechnology , geology , geometry , geochemistry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , linguistics , philosophy
We present a security device that can detect and block hacking using the characteristics of liquid crystals. This device is based on a liquid crystal cell consisting of a uniformly aligned layer and a photo-alignment layer. To inscribe a pattern, the device is illuminated when the liquid crystal is in the smectic phase. The resulting image is invisible after light irradiation. Heating to the nematic phase improves this alignment and reveals the recorded pattern. Returning to the smectic phase distorts the pattern. Because the pattern is not shown without heating and the trace of the pattern does not disappear once viewed, it is possible to detect whether data has been hacked. The device is easy to fabricate, cost-effective, and sensitive to outside intrusion.