FEATURE SECURITY AND COMMERCIAL SENSING g Thales is now set to expand its offering
in the second quarter, with two new palm scanners, the CS500q and CS1000q. These are designed for law enforcement agencies that need very detailed high-quality images for fingerprints and palms, MacLean added. The most common traditional fingerprint
sensors found in consumer devices – capacitive and optical sensors – have important shortcomings, explained Hakan Persson, head of sales and strategy at Next Biometrics, in Oslo. ‘They are very small, so you capture just a partial fingerprint. You need to roll many times to create the full template of the fingerprint by stitching.’ That stitching process is inherently less
secure than capturing the full fingerprint at one time. Larger fingerprint sensors are therefore more secure. However, large capacitive sensors would require large areas of monocrystalline silicon, making them more expensive, explained Kevin Hung, Next Biometrics’ director for field application engineering, adding that optical fingerprint sensors can be quite bulky. To resolve these issues, Next Biometrics
has developed Active Thermal technology for fingerprint sensing. It uses arrays of silicon-based PIN diodes as thermal sensors to differentiate the ridges and valleys of the human fingerprint, since heat transfer in these two areas is different. It makes the sensors using low temperature polysilicon thin film transistor (LTPS TFT) technology commonly used in display manufacturing. ‘For other fingerprint technologies, the cost of a bigger size sensor will increase dramatically,’ said Hung. ‘However, since Next uses LTPS TFT technology, one TFT glass produces several hundred of our sensors. Active Thermal technology makes a costly technology affordable.’ As such, Next Biometrics’ sensors
are competitively priced enough to use in consumer devices, with the company having supplied close to 10 million sensors, primarily for PCs and notebooks, to customers including Dell and Fujitsu. The price point also allows them to be used in
The Ievo ultimate fingerprint sensor’s optical technology is robust enough for long-term outdoor use
point-of-sale devices in shops. ‘And because it’s also very durable, the technology can sit outside and have a good temperature range that allows it to work in harsh conditions,’ he continued. ‘Also, it is not impacted by direct sunlight, for instance, which optical sensors might be. There are also some smartcard opportunities, as we also have a flexible version of the sensor.’ Next Biometrics’ technology is also
well suited to high-security applications, including locks, said Persson. ‘Most locks are based on more or less the same type of technology that is used in a mobile device,’ he said. ‘You don’t get high security. Our FAP20 sensor is personal identity verification (PIV) certified by the FBI.’
Beyond digital security Paul Ramsay, general manager of UK-based CDVI, noted that external fingerprint-secure door locks tend to have major shortfalls. ‘Anyone requiring the use of enhanced security utilising fingerprint technology, is more than likely going to need this at the perimeter or external entrance of the premises,’ Ramsay said. Consequently, fingerprint technology must work externally
‘Most products have everything built into the reader, meaning if removed or stolen it contains all of the user data on the reader itself, and in some instances the door will open’
and in harsh environments. Most products on the market that claim to be an external product can’t do this, and struggle with problem fingerprints from skin conditions, wet fingers, dirty fingers and ambient light issues, Ramsay asserted. ‘The products themselves need to be secure and able to not only operate in these conditions, but ensure they remain secure,’ he stressed. ‘Most products have everything built into the reader, meaning if removed or stolen it contains all of the user data on the reader itself, and in some instances the door will open. The readers are also rarely vandal resistant.’ CDVI brand Ievo has designed its
ultimate fingerprint reader to avoid the issues, with multispectral imaging to collect surface and subsurface biometric data from multiple angles. Multiple LEDs emit blue, green, red and white light, exploiting polarisation and total internal reflection properties to detect different fingerprint characteristics. As such, the reader’s algorithms combine multiple images per light colour, to create a single best image as a fingerprint template. ‘The readers hold up to 50,000 users, and average identification time is around two seconds, dependent on features used,’ said Ramsay. Yet to provide robust security also
Finger vessel images from eight different subjects, with colours that represent different depths 10 Electro Optics April 2021
involves more general engineering considerations. The Ievo ultimate reader
@electrooptics |
www.electrooptics.com g
Jun Xia/SUNY Buffalo
CDVI
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