Method for marking and authenticating diamonds and precious stones

Abstract

Method and systems are presented for authentication of precious stones, according to their natural ID and/or predetermined markings created in the stones, based on unique characteristic radiation response of the stone to predetermined primary radiation.

1 . A precious stone kit comprising a precious stone and a certificate assigned to said precious stone, wherein
 said precious stone comprises at least one predetermined marking created on at least portion of a surface in a form of a single or multi-layer continuous ultra-thin film, said at least one predetermined marking being characterized by a unique X-ray or gamma-ray radiation response to predetermined primary radiation and forming a unique spectral signature of said precious stone or a batch of related precious stones; and   said certificate comprises data indicative of the unique spectral signature of the stone, thereby enabling authentication of the precious stone upon identifying a match between the unique spectral signature in the stone's certificate and a detected radiation signature.   
     
     
         2 . The precious stone kit of  claim 1 , wherein said certificate assigned to the stone is stored in a storage device accessible via a communication network. 
     
     
         3 . The precious stone kit of  claim 1 , being a diamond structure comprising a diamond having pre-marking original values for a predetermined set of parameters, including carat, clarity, color and cut, uniquely characterizing said diamond, and said at least one predetermined marking located on the at least portion of the surface of the diamond, wherein said diamond structure with said at least one predetermined marking has values for said predetermined set of parameters substantially equal to said pre-marking original values. 
     
     
         4 . The precious stone kit of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one predetermined marking is created by applying a material deposition process to the at least portion of the surface of the precious stone, said material deposition process comprising an Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) process. 
     
     
         5 . The precious stone kit of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one predetermined marking has one of the following configurations:
 a) said at least one predetermined marking is in the form of a layered structure comprising at least 50 monolayers; and   b) said at least one predetermined marking is in the form of a layered structure comprising monolayers of platinum interspaced with monolayers of oxygen.   
     
     
         6 . The precious stone kit of  claim 1 , wherein the unique X-ray or gamma-ray radiation response is indicative of the unique material composition of said at least one predetermined marking on the structure of the stone, defined by materials and materials' concentrations of the marking and the structure of the stone. 
     
     
         7 . The precious stone kit of  claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the continuous ultra-thin film is between 50 angstroms and 150 angstroms. 
     
     
         8 . The precious stone kit of  claim 1 , wherein said precious stone comprises multiple predetermined markings applied to the precious stone at different stages, each predetermined marking created in a form of a single- or multi-layer continuous film and characterized by a respective unique spectral signature, said multiple different markings configured to present a code, and wherein said certificate comprises data indicative of said code. 
     
     
         9 . The precious stone kit of  claim 8 , wherein a presence of a predetermined marking among said multiple predetermined markings and/or concentration of predetermined materials in said different predetermined markings are determined according to a preselected code. 
     
     
         10 . A precious stone kit comprising a precious stone and a certificate assigned to said precious stone, wherein
 said precious stone comprises a material composition of foreign materials naturally existing on a surface or throughout a bulk of said precious stone, said material composition of foreign materials characterized by a unique X-ray or gamma-ray radiation response to predetermined primary radiation and forming a unique spectral signature of said precious stone or a batch of related precious stones; and   said certificate comprises data indicative of the unique spectral signature of the stone, thereby enabling authentication of the precious stone upon identifying a match between the unique spectral signature in the stone's certificate and detected radiation signature.   
     
     
         11 . The precious stone kit of  claim 11 , wherein said certificate assigned to the stone is stored in a storage device accessible via a communication network. 
     
     
         12 . The precious stone kit of  claim 11 , wherein said precious stone is diamond, and said material composition of foreign materials is constituted by at least part of impurities in the carbon crystal structure of the diamond. 
     
     
         13 . The precious stone kit of  claim 11 , wherein the unique spectral signature is defined by a relative concentration of the foreign materials and/or a relative spectral response of said foreign materials naturally existing on a surface or throughout a bulk of said precious stone. 
     
     
         14 . The precious stone kit of  claim 11 , wherein the unique spectral signature is indicative of a geographical source of said precious stone.