ARTICLE COMPRISING AN INTEGRATED MARKING DEVICE, AND MARK-DETECTION APPARATUS

摘要

The invention relates to a marking device (1) comprising an element which is made from a semi-conductor material having patterns (2-4, 12-14) which are hollowed out of the face thereof, the arrangement of said patterns being representative of at least one piece of information. The depth of the patterns (2-4, 12-14) can vary from one pattern to another and can adopt a plurality of different values which are representative of an additional piece of information. The invention also relates to an apparatus which is used to detect such marks and to articles having a marking device of said type integrated into the material forming same.