COULEURS

“Counterfeiting costs € 60 billion to 13 sectors of the European economy”. The scourge of the 21st century, counterfeiting spares no sector and induces loss of turnover, but also legal risks if a fake product causes a disaster (e.g. in health). The COULEURS (Resonant microstrUctured Luminous layers) project is part of optical security components (level 1 to 3). The innovation is based on the combination of optical effects: luminescent layer (phosphors) and resonant gratings (0-order surface microstructuring). The combination of the two effects will provide a unique effect which will be the result of interactions leading to additional colors (very difficult to reproduce). The project leaders wish to orient the project towards an upstream project aiming to develop technological and theoretical building chain to offer relevant demonstrators at the end of the project (TRL ? 3, experimental proof). These demonstrators (in the form of patterns / logos with unique visual effects) can thus be submitted to State services (IN Groupe, former National Printing Office, customs services, etc.) and / or industrial partners (luxury goods manufacturers, spirits, pharmaceuticals, health, etc.). The COULEURS project is completely in line with the H17 axis of the AAPG2022 since it clearly addresses the issue of global security through innovative technological solutions (optical components) for the protection, security and traceability of documents (fiduciary, identity of people, driving license, etc.) and products (pharmaceuticals, luxury goods, etc.), in order to limit counterfeiting, fraud and trafficking (see terrorism). This project is coordinated by the Lab. Hubert Curien, Saint Etienne (diffractive optical expertise, resonant gratings), in close collaboration with the ICCF of Clermont-Ferrand (phosphors-based layers) and the Pascal Institute for the modeling of combined optical effects.