Method of marking material and system therefore, and material marked according to same method

Abstract

A method of forming one or more protrusions on an outer surface of a polished face of a solid state material, said method including the step of applying focused inert gas ion beam local irradiation towards an outer surface of a polished facet of a solid state material in a way of protruding top surface material; wherein irradiated focused inert gas ions from said focused inert gas ion bean penetrate the outer surface of said polished facet of said solid state material; and wherein irradiated focused inert gas ions cause expansive strain within the solid state crystal lattice of the solid state material below said outer surface at a pressure so as to induce expansion of solid state crystal lattice, and form a protrusion on the outer surface of the polished face of said solid state material.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of forming one or more protrusions on an outer surface of a polished facet of a solid state material, said method including the step of:
 (i) applying focused inert gas ion beam local irradiation towards an outer surface of a polished facet of a solid state material in a way of protruding top surface material;
 wherein irradiated focused inert gas ions from said focused inert gas ion beam penetrate the outer surface of said polished facet of said solid state material; and 
 wherein irradiated focused inert gas ions cause expansive strain within the solid state crystal lattice of the solid state material below said outer surface at a pressure so as to induce expansion of solid state crystal lattice, and form a protrusion on the outer surface of the polished facet of said solid state material. 
   
     
     
         2 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein said focused inert gas ion beam has a beam energy in the range of from 5 keV to 50 keV and probe current in the range of 1 fA to 200 pA. 
     
     
         3 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein the solid state crystal lattice is in a form of a single crystalline, poly-crystalline, or an amorphous form. 
     
     
         4 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein the solid state material is a material in solid state form under ambient temperature and under a pressure from atmospheric to high vacuum. 
     
     
         5 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein the solid state material is a precious stone, preferably selected from the group including Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Pearl, Jade or the like. 
     
     
         6 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein the focused inert gas ion beam is an ion source from any inert gas in Group VIII of the periodic table. 
     
     
         7 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein the polished facet of the solid state material has an average surface roughness of less than 50 nm. 
     
     
         8 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein said protrusion has an average width in the nanometer or micrometer order of magnitude, and an average height in the nanometer or micrometer order of magnitude. 
     
     
         9 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein the distance from the outer surface of said solid state material to the region of irradiated inert gas accumulation below the outer surface is in the range of from 1 nm to 100 μm. 
     
     
         10 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein said one or more protrusions is provided so as to form an identifiable mark or pattern. 
     
     
         11 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 10 , wherein the identifiable mark is in a form of a single or array of dot, pillar, dome, hemisphere, line, irregular shape, symmetric or asymmetric shape, or the like, wherein the identifiable mark may be provided as a periodic line array, hole/dot array, circular array, spiral array, fractal array or multiple periods array, or the like. 
     
     
         12 . A method of forming one of more protrusions according to  claim 10 , wherein the identifiable mark is provided as a continuous protruded shape to form arbitrary patterns. 
     
     
         13 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein a plurality of protrusions are formed and are nanometer sized so as to provide an information mark invisible to the naked eye due to Rayleigh Criterion in optical limit. 
     
     
         14 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 13 , wherein said protrusions are arranged in a periodic array viewable by specified lighting conditions and by a camera equipped microscope in the visible and invisible light range. 
     
     
         15 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein said one or more protrusions forms an identifiable security mark. 
     
     
         16 . A method of forming one or more protrusions according to  claim 1 , wherein the integrity of said solid state material is preserved, and there exists substantially no loss in mass. 
     
     
         17 . A solid state material having one or more protrusions formed on an outer surface of a polished facet of the solid state material, wherein said one or more protrusions are formed by a method according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         18 . A system for forming one or more protrusions on an outer surface of a polished facet of a solid state material, wherein said one or more protrusions are formed by a method according to  claim 1 .