Authenticatable media and method of authenticating

1. A method for using an optical article, comprising:

illuminating a first portion of the optical article with a first laser to obtain a first optical signal, wherein the first laser has a first wavelength;

illuminating a second portion with a second laser to obtain a second optical signal, wherein the second laser has a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength; and

determining if the optical article is authentic by comparing the first optical signal and the second optical signal;

wherein the first optical signal is selected from the group consisting of reflectivity, transmission, luminescence, polarization, phase, and combinations comprising at least one of these optical signals, and wherein comparing the first optical signal to the second optical signal further comprises determining a ratio of the first optical signal to the second optical signal, and wherein if the ratio is greater than or equal to about 1.15 or less than or equal to about 0.85, the optical article is authentic.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ratio is greater than or equal to about 1.20 or less than or equal to about 0.80.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the ratio is greater than or equal to about 1.30 or less than or equal to about 0.70.

4. A method for using an optical article, comprising:

illuminating a first portion of the optical article with a first laser to obtain a first optical signal, wherein the first laser has a first wavelength;

illuminating a second portion with a second laser to obtain a second optical signal, wherein the second laser has a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength; and

determining if the optical article is authentic by comparing the first optical signal and the second optical signal to each other to obtain a ratio, and comparing the ratio to a reference.

5. A method for using an optical article, comprising:

illuminating a first portion of the optical article with a first laser to obtain a first optical signal, wherein the first laser has a first wavelength;

illuminating a second portion with a second laser to obtain a second optical signal, wherein the second laser has a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength; and

determining if the optical article is authentic by comparing the first optical signal and the second optical signal;

wherein a difference between the first optical signal and the second optical signal is greater than or equal to 15%.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein a difference between the first optical signal and the second optical signal is greater than or equal to 20%.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein a difference between the first optical signal and the second optical signal is greater than or equal to 25%.

8. A method for using an optical article, comprising:

illuminating a first portion of the optical article with a first laser to obtain a first optical signal, wherein the first laser has a first wavelength;

illuminating a second portion with a second laser to obtain a second optical signal, wherein the second laser has a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength;

determining if the optical article is authentic by comparing the first optical signal and the second optical signal; and

identifying the optical article type, wherein if the optical article type is CD, the first wavelength is about 755 nm to about 805 nm, if the optical article type is DVD, the first wavelength is about 625 nm to about 675 nm, and if the optical article type is Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, the first wavelength is about 380 nm to about 430 nm.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein, if the optical article is authentic, further comprising retrieving data from an authentic optical article by illuminating the optical article with the first laser at the first wavelength.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the optical article has at least two formatted data types.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least two formatted data types comprises DVD formatted data and a type selected from the group consisting of CD formatted data, HD-DVD formatted data, and Blu-ray formatted data.

12. The method of claim 5 , further comprising identifying the optical article type prior to obtaining the first optical signal.

13. The method of claim 5 , further comprising determining a location of the first portion of the optical article by reading a boot-section of the optical article.

14. The method of claim 5 , further comprising identifying the optical article format before authenticating the optical article.

15. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first portion is the same location on the optical article as the second portion.

16. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first portion is a DVD layer of the optical article and the second portion is another layer of the optical article selected from the group consisting of CD layer, HD-DVD layer, and Blu-ray layer.

17. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first portion is on a first side of the optical article and the second portion is on different side of the optical article than the first portion.

18. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining if the optical article is authentic further comprises comparing the first optical signal and the second optical signal to a reference representative of an optical article comprising an optical modifier.

19. A optical article drive system encoded with a machine readable computer program code, said code including instructions for causing a computer to implement a method for using an optical article, comprising:

illuminating the optical article with a first laser to obtain a first optical signal, wherein the first laser has a first wavelength;

illuminating the optical article with a second laser to obtain a second optical signal, wherein the second laser has a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength; and

determining if the optical article is authentic by comparing the first optical signal and the second optical signal;

wherein a difference between the first optical signal and the second optical signal is greater than or equal to 15%.

20. A computer data signal, said computer data signal, comprising:

instructions for causing a computer to implement a method for using a optical article, comprising:

illuminating the optical article with a first laser to obtain a first optical signal, wherein the first laser has a first wavelength;

illuminating the optical article with a second laser to obtain a second optical signal, wherein the second laser has a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength; and

determining if the optical article is authentic by comparing the first optical signal and the second optical signal;

wherein a difference between the first optical signal and the second optical signal is greater than or equal to 15%.

21. An optical article, comprising:

first data readable at a first wavelength;

second data readable at a second wavelength, wherein the first wavelength and the second wavelength are different; and

an optical modifier disposed in an optical modifier portion of the optical article in optical communication with the first data, wherein the optical modifier changes an optical property of the optical article by a sufficient amount such that a difference between a first optical signal from the first portion and a second optical signal from a second portion of the first data is greater than or equal to 15%;

wherein the first data comprises DVD formatted data and the second data is selected from the group consisting of CD formatted data, HD-DVD formatted data, and Blu-ray formatted data.

22. The optical article of claim 21 , further comprising an optical modifier selected from the group consisting of a laser absorber, a luminescence material, a refractive index changer, a scattering agent, a polarization modifier, a non-linear optical material and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing optical modifier.

23. The optical article of claim 21 , wherein a difference between the first wavelength and the second wavelength is greater than or equal to about 50 nm.

24. The optical article of claim 21 , wherein the first data is on a first side of the optical article and the second data is on different side of the optical article than the first data.

25. The optical article of claim 21 , wherein the first portion and the second portion are the same three dimensional location.

26. An optical article, comprising:

first data readable at a first wavelength;

second data readable at a second wavelength, wherein the first wavelength and the second wavelength are different; and

an optical modifier disposed in an optical modifier portion of the optical article in optical communication with the first data, wherein the optical modifier changes an optical property of the optical article by a sufficient amount such that a difference between a first optical signal from the first portion and a second optical signal from the second portion of the first data is greater than or equal to 15%;

wherein the optical article is selected from the group consisting of an ID card, passport, payment card, license, permit, personal information card, and security document.

27. The optical article of claim 26 , wherein a difference between the first wavelength and the second wavelength is greater than or equal to about 50 nm.

28. A method for using an optical article, comprising:

illuminating a first portion of the optical article with a first laser to obtain a first optical signal, wherein the first laser has a first wavelength;

illuminating the first portion with a second laser to obtain a second optical signal, wherein the second laser has a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength; and

determining if the optical article is authentic by comparing a first optical signal and a second optical signal to a reference representative of an optical article comprising an optical modifier;

wherein a difference between the first optical signal and the second optical signal is greater than or equal to 25%.

29. An optical article, comprising:

first data readable at a first wavelength;

second data readable at a second wavelength, wherein the first wavelength and the second wavelength are different and wherein the first wavelength is higher than the second wavelength; and

an optical modifier disposed in an optical modifier portion of the optical article in optical communication with the first data, wherein the optical modifier changes an optical property of the optical article by a sufficient amount such that a first optical signal from a first portion is greater than or equal to 15% lower than a second optical signal from a second portion.

30. The optical article of claim 29 , wherein the first wavelength is 780 nm.