Abstract: The present invention relates to particulate based compositions for deposition on substrates, a system and method for the deposition of the said compositions for preparation of a clone-proof monetary and/or security documents. The said composition is applied as an identifier at predetermined location on the substrate. The magneto-optical signal from the said applied composition is captured by the reading system. Further it is encrypted same as an invisible or visible two dimensional (2D) barcode/image on the substrate as an associated identifier so as to create a dedicated, non repeatable and unique functional digitized relation between two said identifiers and/or any other identifier(s) linked to a specific object.

Abstract: The invention provides an authentication unit for reading identification and/or authentication information from a tag or object. The authentication unit includes a near-field reader configured to read a first identification feature based on inherent disorder, and a far-field reader configured to read a second identification feature, such as a bar code, optical characters, or an RFID tag. The near-field and far-field readers may be combined in a single integrated scanning module, which also includes circuitry for receiving signals from the readers, and an interface for communicating with a host device.