Raman-active taggants and their recognition

• US 20020025490A1
• Filed: 04/11/2001
• Published: 02/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ChromaticTechnologies lncoporated
• Original Assignee: Quanta System, S.p.A. (El.En. S.p.A)
• Inventors: Lazareva, Olgal Leonidovna, Melnikov, Valery Pavlovich, Shchegolikhin, Alexander Nikitovich, Small, Lyle David, Ozeretski, Vassili Yu
• Granted Patent: US 6,610,351 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 430/270.15
• CPC Class Codes: B41M 3/14 Security printing securities B42D25/29
• CPC Class Codes: B41M 3/144 using fluorescent, luminescent or iridescent effects
• CPC Class Codes: B41M 5/285 Polyacetylenes
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 30/00 Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/44 Raman spectrometry; Scattering spectrometry ; Fluorescence spectrometry
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/65 Raman scattering
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/658 enhancement Raman, e.g. surface plasmons
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 283/901 Concealed data

Abstract

An organic or organoelement, linear or branched, monomeric or polymeric composition of matter having a Raman-active component in the form of particles. The particles having a maximum dimension of 50 μm. The Raman-active compound is applied to a substrate. When the Raman-active compound is exposed to a laser light wavelength which is batochromically well beyond a spectral region of maximum absorbance of said Raman-active compound, Raman scattering can be detected.

Claims

1. An organic or organoelement, linear or branched, monomeric or polymeric composition of matter, comprising:

a Raman-active compound in the form of particles, whose maximum dimension is 50 μ

m, wherein said Raman-active compound is applied to a substrate or compatibilized with a substrate, said Raman-active compound having a characteristic that, when said Raman-active compound applied to a substrate is then exposed to a laser light wavelength which is batochromically shifted well beyond a spectral region of maximum absorbance of said Raman-active compound, at any incident intensity of said laser light higher than 1.0 mW but lower than that capable of inducing photothermal degradation of said Raman-active compound or said substrate, Raman scattering can be detected in a 2300-1900 cm<sup>−

1</sup> Raman shifts region at a level of at least 0.001 fW above an intensity of a background signal of said substrate.

2. The composition of claim 1, wherein said laser light has a wavelength from about 750 nm to about 1500 nm.

3. The composition of claim 1, wherein said substrate does not contain any acetylenic moieties within its structure.

4. The composition of claim 3, wherein said substrate comprises paper.

5. The composition of claim 3, wherein said substrate comprises a polymer.

6. The composition of claim 3, wherein said substrate comprises a metal.

7. The composition of claim 3, wherein said substrate comprises a metalloid.

8. A flowable or solid composition of matter, comprising:

from 0.1 up to 100 percent by weight of one or more organic or organoelement, linear or branched, monomeric or polymeric compositions comprising;

a) at least one acetylenic moiety in any position within a molecule of said one or more organic or organoelement, linear or branched, monomeric or polymeric compositions; and

b) a Raman-active compound in the form of a layer whose thickness is more than 0.3 μ

m and less than 1000 μ

m, wherein said Raman-active compound is applied onto a sheet material, laminated between two layers of a sheet material or covered with a sheet material, and said Raman-active compound having a characteristic that, when exposed to a laser light wavelength which is batochromically shifted well beyond a spectral region of maximum absorbance of said Raman-active compound, at any incident intensity of said laser light higher than 1.0 mW but lower than that capable of inducing photothermal degradation of said Raman-active compound or said sheet material, Raman scattering can be detected in a 2300-1900 cm<sup>−

1</sup> Raman shifts region at a level of at least 0.01% of a dynamic range of a detector of a spectrometer above an intensity of a background signal of said sheet material.

9. The flowable or solid composition of claim 8, wherein a difference between a maximum absorbance of said Raman-active compound and said laser light wavelength is at least 50 nm.

10. The flowable or solid composition of claim 8, wherein said sheet material does not contain any acetylenic moieties within its structure.

11. The flowable or solid composition of claim 10, wherein said sheet material comprises paper.

12. The flowable or solid composition of claim 10, wherein said sheet material comprises a polymer.

13. The flowable or solid composition of claim 12, wherein said thickness of said sheet material is less than 100 μ

m.

14. The flowable or solid composition of claim 8, wherein at least one of said one or more compounds comprises a thermochromic polydiacetylene Raman-active compound.

15. The flowable or solid composition of claim 8, wherein at least one of said one or more compounds comprises a topochemically polymerizable diacetylene monomer Raman-active compound, said Raman-active compound having a characteristic that it is polymerized to a specified degree of conversion into a polymer within a range of from 0.1 percent to 100 percent.

16. The flowable or solid composition of claim 8, wherein said laser light has a wavelength from about 750 nm to about 1500 nm.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said Raman-active composition is present in said marking composition in an amount from about 1 to about 100 percent by weight.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein said Raman-active composition is present in said marking composition in an amount from about 50 to about 100 percent by weight.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein said mark on said genuine item is illuminated with monochromatic near infrared radiation having a wavelength from about 750 to about 1500 nm.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said mark on said genuine item is illuminated with monochromatic radiation from a solid-state Nd:

YAG laser.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein said mark on said genuine item is illuminated with monochromatic radiation from a single mode diode laser.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein a spectrum of Raman scattered radiation from said Raman-active composition is quantitatively measured with a NIR-FT Raman spectrometer.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein a spectrum of Raman scattered radiation from said Raman-active composition is quantitatively measured with a portable fiber optic Raman spectrometer.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein a spectrum of Raman scattered radiation from said Raman-active composition is quantitatively measured with a portable fiber optic Raman spectrometer furnished with a waveguide evanescent probe.

26. A method of security marking, comprising the steps of:

(a) applying to a genuine item a marking composition comprising an fluorescence-active composition, wherein said fluorescence-active composition, when illuminated with near infrared radiation, generates a detectable composite emission spectrum, thereby forming a machine-readable security mark on said genuine item;

(b) illuminating said security mark on said genuine item with monochromatic near infrared radiation; and

(c) simultaneously and quantitatively measuring with a spectrometer said composite emission spectrum of Raman scattered radiation and of laser induced fluorescence from said fluorescence-active composition while said security mark is illuminated with monochromatic near infrared radiation, wherein fluorescence-active composition is essentially an inorganic anti-Stokes up-converting phosphor selected from the group consisting of;

1) M_(1-x)R_xZ₃;

or

2) M_2(1-x)R_2xO₂S;

wherein M comprises at least one rare earth element selected from the group consisting of cerium, gadolinium, yttrium, lanthanum, niodymium, holmium, samarium, europium, ytterbium, erbium, lutetium and mixtures thereof;

R is a dopant selected from the group comprising neodymium, thulium, erbium, holmium, samarium, or mixtures thereof;

x is a value in the range from 0.005 to 1.0;

Z is a halogen selected from the group consisting of chlorine, bromine, fluorine and iodine; and

said fluorescence-active composition is present in said marking composition along with from 0.1 to 100 percent by weight of one or more Raman-active compounds, the latter being represented by the general formulae as specified in claim 17.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said composite emission spectrum is quantitatively measured with a Raman spectrometer.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein said composite emission spectrum is quantitatively measured with a Raman spectrometer furnished with InGaAs detector.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein said composite emission spectrum is quantitatively measured with a Raman spectrometer furnished with Ge detector.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein said composite emission spectrum is excited by a Nd:

YAG laser.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein said monochromatic near infrared radiation source is a diode laser.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein at least one of said Raman-active compounds is represented by a thermochromic polydiacetylene.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein said fluorescence-active composition comprises one of the Raman-active compounds of claim 17 along with one fluorescence-active compound.

34. The method of claim 26, wherein said fluorescence-active composition comprises more than one and less than nine Raman-active compounds of claim 17 along with one fluorescence-active compound.

35. The method of claim 17, wherein said Raman-active composition comprises more than two and less than six of said Raman-active compounds.

36. The method of claim 17, wherein said Raman-active composition comprises two of said Raman-active compounds.

38. The mark of claim 37, wherein said mark is produced by an ink-jet printer.

40. The mark of claim 39, wherein said mark is produced by an ink-jet printer.

17. A method of security marking, comprising the steps of:

a) applying to a genuine item a marking composition comprising a Raman-active composition, wherein said Raman-active composition, when illuminated with monochromatic near infrared radiation, generates a detectable Raman spectrum, thereby forming a machine-readable security mark on said genuine item;

b) illuminating said security mark on said genuine item with monochromatic near infrared radiation; and

c) quantitatively measuring with a spectrometer a spectrum of Raman scattered radiation from said Raman-active composition while said security mark is illuminated with monochromatic near infrared radiation;

d) wherein said Raman-active composition comprises from 0.1 to 100 percent by weight of one or more Raman-active compounds selected from the group consisting of;

1) R¹—

(C≡

C)_n—

X¹—

Y¹—

R², wherein n is an integer of 1 or 2;

R¹ is H, a transition metal atom such as copper or silver, n-alkyl or substituted alkyl, aryl or substituted aryl;

X¹ is absent or represents a molecular bridge such as n-alkylene, substituted alkylene, cycloalkylene, alkenylene, arylene and substituted arylene;

Y¹ is absent or represents —

H, —

O—

, —

S—

, —

CO—

, —

CO—

CO—

, —

OCO—

, —

NH—

, —

NHCO—

, —

NHCOO—

, —

CONHCOO—

, —

NHCONH—

, a sulfonyl group, —

HC═

N—

, —

N═

N—

, >

C═

C<

, >

C═

C—

C═

C<

, —

Ph—

C≡

C—

Ph—

, —

C≡

C—

Ph—

C≡

C—

, or —

C≡

C—

M—

C≡

C—

, wherein M is Hg, Pt, Ni, Pd, Si, Ge; and

R² represents —

H, or an n-alkyl, substituted alkyl, cycloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, substituted aryl, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic structure, oxygen or sulfur, such as piperidinoxyl, carbazole, dehydropiperidinoxyl, carbolinoxyl, pyrrolidine, pyridine, piperidine, piperazine, quinoline, isoquinoline, quinuclidine, pyrazole, triazole, tetrazole, triazine, imidazole, pyrimidine, pyradizine, pyrazine, oxazole, isoxazole, morpholine, or the like, with examples of substituents residing on the said substituted alkyls, aryls, alkylenes, arylenes, arylalkyls and heterocyclic structures including but not limited to halogen atoms, cyano group, vinyl group, mercapto group, hydroxy group, amine group, aldehyde group, carboxylic acid group, nitrile group, diazo group, nitro group, or azide group;

2) R¹—

(C≡

C)_n—

X²—

Y²—

Z—

Y³—

X³—

(C≡

C)_m—

R³, wherein integer n is equal to or different from m and each, independently of the other, is 1 or 2;

R¹ is equal to or different from R³ and each, independently of the other, is H, a transition metal atom, n-alkyl or substituted alkyl, aryl or substituted aryl;

X² is equal to X³ and both simultaneously are either absent or represent a molecular bridge such as n-alkylene, substituted alkylene, arylene, substituted arylene, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic structure, wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, such as pyrrolidine, pyridine, piperidine, piperazine, quinoline, isoquinoline, quinuclidine, pyrazole, triazole, tetrazole, triazine, imidazole, pyrimidine, pyradizine, pyrazine, oxazole, isoxazole, morpholine, piperidinoxyl, dehydropiperidinoxyl, carbolinoxyl, carbazole, and the like;

Y² is equal to Y³ and both simultaneously are either absent or represent —

S—

, —

O—

, —

CO—

, —

OCO—

, —

CO—

CO—

, —

NH—

, —

NHCO—

, —

NHCOO—

, —

CONHCOO—

, —

NHCONH—

, a sulfonyl group, —

C≡

C—

, >

C═

N—

, —

N═

N—

, >

C═

C<

, >

C═

C—

C═

C<

, —

C≡

C—

Ph—

C≡

C—

, —

C≡

C—

C≡

C—

, or —

Ph—

C≡

C—

Ph—

;

Z is nil or represents a molecular bridge such as n-alkylene, substituted alkylene, cycloalkylene, arylene, substituted arylene, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic structure, wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, or the like, such as pyrrolidine, pyridine, piperidine, piperazine, quinoline, isoquinoline, quinuclidine, pyrazole, triazole, tetrazole, triazine, imidazole, pyrimidine, pyradizine, pyrazine, oxazole, isoxazole, morpholine, piperidinoxyl, dehydropiperidinoxyl, carbolinoxyl, carbazole, and the like, a covalently bound element such as Hg, Pd, Pt, Ni, Si, Ge, or a moiety such as —

S—

, —

O—

, —

CO—

, —

OCO—

, —

CO—

CO—

, —

C≡

C—

, >

C═

N—

, —

N═

N—

, >

C═

C<

, >

C═

C—

C═

C<

, —

C≡

C—

Ph—

C≡

C—

, —

Ph—

C≡

C—

Ph—

, and the like, with examples of substituents residing on the said substituted alkyls, aryls, alkylenes, arylenes, arylalkyls and heterocyclic structures including but not limited to halogen atoms, cyano group, vinyl group, mercapto group, hydroxy group, amine group, aldehyde group, carboxylic acid group, nitrile group, diazo group, nitro group, or azide group;

3) R⁴—

Y⁴—

X⁴—

(C≡

C)_n—

X⁵—

Y⁵—

R⁵, wherein n is an integer from 1 to 4, X⁴ is equal to or different from X⁵ and each, independently of the other, is absent or represents a molecular bridge such as n-alkylene, substituted alkylene, preferably with from about 1 to about 12 carbon atoms, cycloalkylene, arylene, substituted arylene, preferably with from about 6 to about 18 carbon atoms, Y⁴ is equal to or different from Y⁵ and each, independently of the other, is absent or represents a moiety such as H, —

OH, —

COH, —

COOH, —

NH₂, —

NO₂, —

C≡

N, —

CH═

CH₂, phenyl, sulfonyl group, —

S—

, —

O—

, —

CO—

, —

OCO—

, —

NH—

, —

NHCO—

, —

NHCOO—

, —

CONHCOO—

, —

NHCONH—

, —

C≡

C—

, >

C═

N—

, —

N═

N—

, >

C═

C<

, >

C═

C—

C═

C<

, —

C≡

C—

C≡

C—

, —

C≡

C—

Ph—

C≡

C—

, —

Ph—

C≡

C—

Ph—

, —

C≡

C—

C≡

C—

C≡

C—

, —

C≡

C—

C≡

C—

C≡

C—

C≡

C—

, and —

C≡

C—

C≡

C—

M—

C≡

C≡

C—

moiety wherein M is an element such as Hg, Ni, Pd, Pt, Si, Ge or the like, and R⁴ is equal to or different from R⁵ and each, independently of the other, is absent or represents a functional group such as —

H, —

OH, —

COH, —

COOH, —

NH₂, —

NO₂, —

C≡

N, —

CH═

CH₂, —

C≡

CH, —

C≡

C—

C≡

CH, —

C≡

—

C—

Ph—

C≡

CH, —

Ph—

C≡

C—

Ph, or an organic residue such as n-alkyl, substituted alkyl, preferably with from about 1 to about 12 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl, aryl, substituted aryl, preferably with from about 6 to about 18 carbon atoms, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, preferably with from about 7 to about 30 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic structure, preferably of from about 5 to about 15 members wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, such as pyrrolidine, pyridine, piperidine, piperazine, quinoline, isoquinoline, quinuclidine, pyrazole, triazole, tetrazole, triazine, imidazole, pyrimidine, pyradizine, pyrazine, oxazole, isoxazole, morpholine, carbazole, piperidinoxyl, dehydropiperidinoxyl, carbolinoxyl and the like, with examples of substituents residing on the said substituted alkyls, aryls, alkylenes, arylenes, arylalkyls and heterocyclic structures including but not limited to halogen atoms, cyano group, vinyl group, mercapto group, hydroxy group, amine group, aldehyde group, carboxylic acid group, nitrile group, diazo group, nitro group, or azide group;

4) R⁶—

CH═

C(CN)—

COO—

R⁷, wherein R⁶ is equal to or different from R⁷ and each, independently of the other, represents —

H or a residue such as n-alkyl, substituted alkyl, preferably with from about 1 to about 12 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl, aryl, substituted aryl, preferably with from about 6 to about 18 carbon atoms, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, preferably with from about 7 to about 30 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic ring, preferably of from about 5 to about 7 members wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, such as pyrrolidine, pyridine, piperidine, piperazine, quinoline, isoquinoline, quinuclidine, pyrazole, triazole, tetrazole, triazine, imidazole, pyrimidine, pyradizine, pyrazine, oxazole, isoxazole, morpholine, carbazole, piperidinoxyl, carbolinoxyl and the like, or terminal functional groupings such as —

CH═

CH₂, —

HC═

CH—

HC═

CH₂, —

C≡

CH, —

C≡

C—

C≡

CH, —

Ph—

C≡

CH, and —

Ph—

C≡

C—

Ph;

5) a compound represented by the general formula;

wherein l and m are integers which are equal to or different from each other, and each, independently of the other, is 0, 1, 2 or 4;

n is an integer preferably with from about 5 to about 10,000, Z¹ represents an atom such as mercury, nickel, platinum, palladium, silicon, germanium or the like, Z² represents an atom such as silicon or germanium, Z³ is absent or represents arylene, substituted arylene, preferably with from about 6 to about 30 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroarylene structure, preferably of from about 5 to about 17 members wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, R⁸ is equal to or different from R⁹ and each, independently of the other, is absent or represents an organic residue such as n-alkyl, substituted alkyl, preferably with from about 3 to about 16 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl, aryl, substituted aryl, preferably with from about 6 to about 30 carbon atoms, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, preferably with from about 7 to about 30 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic ring, preferably of from about 5 to about 7 members wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, or a complexation ligand such as, e.g. trans-trialkylphosphine, and the like;

6) a compound represented by the general formula;

wherein l and m are integers which are equal to or different from each other, and each, independently of the other, is 0, 1, 2 or 4;

n is an integer preferably with from about 5 to about 10,000, Z¹ represents an atom such as mercury, nickel, platinum, palladium, silicon, germanium or the like, Z² represents an atom such as silicon or germanium, Z³ is absent or represents arylene, substituted arylene, preferably with from about 6 to about 30 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroarylene structure, preferably of from about 5 to about 17 members wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, R⁸ is equal to or different from R⁹ and each, independently of the other, is absent or represents an organic residue such as n-alkyl, substituted alkyl, preferably with from about 3 to about 16 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl, aryl, substituted aryl, preferably with from about 6 to about 30 carbon atoms, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, preferably with from about 7 to about 30 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic ring, preferably of from about 5 to about 7 members wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, or a complexation ligand such as, e.g. trans-trialkylphosphine, and the like;

7) a compound represented by the general formula;

wherein l and m are integers which are equal to or different from each other, and each, independently of the other, is 0, 1, 2 or 4;

n is an integer preferably with from about 5 to about 10,000, Z¹ represents an atom such as mercury, nickel, platinum, palladium, silicon, germanium or the like, Z² represents an atom such as silicon or germanium, Z³ is absent or represents arylene, substituted arylene, preferably with from about 6 to about 30 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroarylene structure, preferably of from about 5 to about 17 members wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, R⁸ is equal to or different from R⁹ and each, independently of the other, is absent or represents an organic residue such as n-alkyl, substituted alkyl, preferably with from about 3 to about 16 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl, aryl, substituted aryl, preferably with from about 6 to about 30 carbon atoms, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, preferably with from about 7 to about 30 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic ring, preferably of from about 5 to about 7 members wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, or a complexation ligand such as, e.g. trans-trialkylphosphine, and the like;

8) a compound represented by the general formula;

wherein n is an integer preferably from about 5 to about 100,000, R¹⁰ and R¹¹ are the same or different and each, independently of the other, represents n-alkyl, preferably with from about 1 to about 18 carbon atoms, substituted alkyl, preferably with from about 3 to about 30 carbon atoms, unsubstituted and substituted phenyl preferably with from about 6 to about 30 carbon atoms, aryl, substituted aryl, preferably with from about 12 to about 30 carbon atoms, arylalkyl, or substituted arylalkyl, preferably with from about 13 to about 30 carbon atoms;

9) a large spheroidal carbon molecule or a new allotropic form of carbon such as fullerene C60, C70, C72, C80, C140, C180, C240, C260, C320, C420, C432, C500, C504, C540, C560, C576, C620, C720, C740, C780, C860, C980, C1040, C1260, and the like, or the so called Goldberg polyhedron, or the so called carbon nanotube, or helical nanotube, or the so called carbon nanotorus;

10) a compound represented by the general formula;

wherein n is an integer preferably from about 3 to about 100,000, R¹² and R¹³ may be the same or different and, independently of each other, is H, n-alkyl preferably with from about 1 to about 8 carbon atoms or substituted alkyl, preferably with from about 3 to about 12 carbon atoms, or phenyl;

11) a compound represented by the general formula;

wherein integer l is equal to or different from m and each, independently of the other, is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4, n is an integer preferably from about 5 to about 100,000, X⁶ is equal to or different from Y⁶ and each, independently of the other, is absent or represents a moiety such as >

C═

C<

, —

CO—

, —

CO—

CO—

, —

CH₂—

, —

O—

, —

S—

, —

SO₂—

, —

NH—

, —

NHCO—

, —

NHCOO—

, —

CONHCOO—

, —

NHCONH—

, sulfonyl group, >

C═

N—

, —

N═

N—

, >

C═

C—

C═

C<

, —

Ph—

C≡

C—

Ph—

, p- or m-phenylene, diphenyleneoxide, tetraaryl substituted phenylene, cycloalkylene, arylene, substituted arylene, preferably with from about 6 to about 30 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic structure, preferably of from about 5 to about 15 members, wherein the hetero atom is nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur, such as pyrrolidine, pyridine, piperidine, piperazine, quinoline, isoquinoline, quinuclidine, pyrazole, triazole, tetrazole, triazine, imidazole, pyrimidine, pyradizine, pyrazine, oxazole, isoxazole, morpholine, piperidinoxyl, dehydropiperidinoxyl, carbolinoxyl, carbazole, and the like, with examples of suitable substituents residing on the said structures including but not limited to halogen atoms, cyano group, vinyl group, mercapto group, hydroxy group, amine group, aldehyde group, carboxylic acid group, nitrile group, diazo group, nitro group, or azide group, R¹⁴ is equal to or different from R¹⁵ and each, independently of the other, is absent or represents from one up to four substituents such as phenyl, alkyl preferably with from about 1 to about 12 carbon atoms, halogen atoms, cyano group, vinyl group, mercapto group, hydroxy group, amine group, aldehyde group, carboxylic acid group, nitrile group, diazo group, nitro group, or azide group;

or

12) a compound represented by the general formula;

where R¹⁶ and R¹⁷ are typically independently selected from alkyl and substituted alkyl groups, preferably monosubstituted alkyl groups, including urethane-modified alkyl, arylsulfonyl-modified alkyl, heterocyclic-substituted alkyl, ether-substituted alkyl, ester-substituted alkyl, amide-substituted alkyl, urea-substituted alkyl, carboxy-substituted alkyl, hydroxy-substituted alkyl, and the like, or in an alternative embodiment, R¹⁶ and R¹⁷ are independently selected from macromolecular residues having average degree of polymerization from 10 up to 100,000 and represented by polyalkylenes, polyoxymethylenes, polyoxypropylenes, polyethers, polyesters, polyurethanes, polyamides and polyetheramides.

37. An irradiation-developable Raman-active mark comprising a diacetylene solid-state polymerizable monomer.

39. A thermally-developable Raman-active mark comprising a diacetylene solid-state polymerizable monomer.

41. A Raman-active security mark which is thermochromic, pH-chromic, piezo-chromic or solvatochromic.

42. The security mark of claim 41, wherein said mark is quantitatively Raman-detectable at discrete specified temperatures.

43. The security mark of claim 42, wherein said temperature is selected from within a range of about −

200°

C. to about +300°

C.