Abstract: The base material consists of a base steel having a base carbon content of less than 0.3 wt % carbon and enriched with carbon starting from its surface 2,3,4 formed of formed of two broad surfaces 2, two short edge sides 3 and two long edge sides 4. The base steel has boundary areas 5 enriched with 0.5-1.1 wt % carbon starting from at least one broad surface 2 and transforming with a decreasing carbon content into an area 6 not enriched with carbon or only slightly enriched. At the edge surface 3,4, the base material has the sandwich structure formed of the carbon-enriched boundary area 5 and the area 6 not enriched with carbon. (FIG.

Abstract: A method and system for providing specialized contacts for electronic information on a smart card or other device in the pattern of a source identifier, such that a machine may contact and read the information upon placement of the card in the machine. The contact points for reading information on the card are formed by etching a substrate attached to the logic element of the smart card. The etching allows both the foreground and the background of an image, in two selected colors, to be included within the contact area of the smart card, with the foreground constituting the conductor and the background the substrate. Additionally, the present invention provides electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection for a semiconductor circuit within the smart card without changing the appearance or method of forming the contact points.