Ferroelectric memories for security and identification purposes

Magnetically encoded cards are currently being utilized for train tickets and for door (access) keys to restricted areas. This implementation suffers from numerous serious deficiencies, of which the worst is the ease with which the magnetically coded information may be altered or copied. Alteration may be accidental or with intent to defraud. Security may be questionable depending upon the sophistication required to determine the encoded information. Ferroelectric encoded cards also provide information coding for security and identification, but this is not readily subject to compromise. These cards are immune to accidental modification of their encoded information and such information is not readily ascertained. As with all innovations, there are excellent attributes and those not so desirable. These are discussed in the paper.