Method of generating a fluorescent property in a material using a laser

1 . A method for generating an at least partial fluorescent property in a material, the method comprising:

providing the material;

providing a laser;

arranging, the material in a beam path of the laser, such that the laser can selectively section wise irradiate the material; and

at least section wise irradiating a surface of the material with the laser;

wherein the at least section wise irradiating of the surface of the material with the laser is performed until visible traces of smoke are formed on the irradiated areas of the surface of the material, whereby a fluorescent property is generated in the irradiated areas.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the laser is one of a CO2 laser and a fiber laser.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein, if the laser is a CO2 laser, the CO2 laser is operated at a power between 60 W and 100 W and a wavelength of 10.6 μm; and

wherein, if the laser is a fiber laser, the fiber laser is operated with a power between 20 W and 30 W and a wavelength of 1064 nm.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein irradiating the surface of the material is carried out with a pulsed laser.

5 . The method claim 4 , wherein irradiating the surface of the material comprises at least irradiating the surface under a first angle to generate a first fluorescence and irradiating the surface under a second angle to generate a second fluorescence to thereby generate a direction-dependent fluorescence property such that the respective fluorescence is only visible under the respective angle.

6 . The method of any claim 5 , wherein the material is a card-shaped material.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the card-shaped material comprises a layered structure having a plurality of layers laminated together.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the card-shaped material is a card-shaped data carrier.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the card-shaped data carrier is one of an identity card, a data page of a passport, a driver's license, and a payment card.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the section wise irradiating of the surface is carried out according to a pattern or motif in order to generate a corresponding fluorescent motif.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the irradiated areas irradiated during the irradiating are selected such that the generated fluorescence property serves as a safety feature.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising removing the traces of smoke from the surface-after irradiating.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the material comprises at least one of the following materials:

opaque and/or transparent polycarbonates, PC;

refined materials;

opaque and/or transparent polyethylene terephthalate, PET;

acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, ABS;

bio Polycarbonates, PC, and polyvinyl chloride, PVC.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising cutting out the irradiated area such that the edges of the cut-out irradiated area exhibit the fluorescent property.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the material has a flat design; and

wherein the method further comprises inserting the material as an insert into a card-shaped data carrier.