OPTICAL RECOGNITION OF PHASE-ENCRYPTED BIOMETRICS

An optical security system using phase encryption of biometric identif ication data is demonstrated. For this effort, fingerprints are used a s the biometric signature. Two types of phase masks are fabricated: ph otopolymer film and polyimide film. The masks containing the phase-enc rypted fingerprints are tested using a joint transform optical correla tor. The results of the tests demonstrate that the encryption methods are successful, as the target fingerprint is recognized and the test p rint is rejected. (C) 1998 society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation En gineers. [S0091-3286(98)00201-3].