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                            Funding & Awards
 Investigation of a time-effective approach to the discrimination and interpretation of inkjet printer inks using micro Raman spectroscopy
Award Information
Awardee
              Sam Houston State University
Award #
              2016-DN-BX-0164
Funding Category
              Competitive
Location
                    Huntsville, TX
Awardee County
              Walker
Congressional District
              8
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2016
Total funding (to date)
              $246,838
Original Solicitation
              Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2016, $246,838)
As submitted by the proposer: 
The Department of Forensic Science at Sam Houston State University proposes a collaborative research endeavor with the Criminal Investigative Division, Treasury Obligations Section of the United States Secret Service. Our goal is to investigate if Raman data gathered from the three microscopic colored spots of inkjet printed documents constitute, all together, a chemical signature sufficiently discriminating to provide reliable investigative leads in a time-effective and non-destructive manner.

In a forensic setting, spectroscopic data are typically obtained to evaluate similarities between questioned specimens and reference samples to address questions about source attributions. Data produced in this project are considered instead to evaluate their suitability to produce investigative leads in cases where a suspected printer needs to be developed (i.e., sourcing). This work focuses on inkjet printer inks because more than 60% of all counterfeit banknotes classified by the USSS are produced using this technology. Given their relatively low cost and their wide occurrence, however, their use is not exclusively encountered in problems of counterfeit, but they can be submitted to questioned document examiners in a variety of cases, such as extortions, questioned contracts, ID documents, or anonymous letters. Although Raman spectroscopy is already a well-established method for the characterization of colorants (both dyes and pigments), its potential to address meaningful investigative questions has not been fully explored yet. Typically, inkjet printer produce microscopic spots that allow obtaining a chemical signature from the three main colored components (cyan,magenta, and yellow) and a considerable number of sample.  A sensible, objective, and fast classifer is then required for conducting spectral comparisons. Various multivariate statistical methods will be tested. These include the traditional methods such as principal components analysis or linear discriminant analysis, but also statistical techniques that are less explored in forensic disciplines known as ensemble methods (i.e., bagging, boosting and random forests) and functional data analysis. During this research it is expected to develop a statistical approach that can reliably and objectively differentiate between samples from different sources based on minor spectral differences and to evaluate if different color spots from the same source can be treated as independent pieces of information. This study will also compare to the traditional method of thin layer chromatography to inform questioned document examiners about the complementarities between the two approaches.

Note:  This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.

ca/ncf



  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Comparison between visual assessments and different variants of linear discriminant analysis to the classification of Raman patterns of inkjet printer inks
                  Investigation of a Time-Effective Approach to the Discrimination and Interpretation of Inkjet Printer Inks Using Micro Raman Spectroscopy
                  On the Criteria for the Discrimination of Inkjet Printer Inks Using Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

  
Date Created: September 16, 2016
    
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