Patent ID: 8125517

Claim:
A fingerprint authentication apparatus comprising: a mounting section configured for mounting a finger; an authentication section configured to authenticate a fingerprint of the finger mounted on the mounting section; a cover section forming a space where the finger can be inserted between the cover section and the mounting section and surrounding the mounting section; a finger sensor disposed at the cover section and configured to detect whether the finger is mounted on the mounting section; an ultraviolet irradiation section disposed at the cover section and configured to apply ultraviolet light toward the mounting section; an ultraviolet irradiation control section configured to control the ultraviolet irradiation section to apply the ultraviolet light when the finger sensor does not detect the finger being mounted; a temperature and humidity sensor configured to detect a temperature and a humidity of the space formed between the mounting section and the cover section; a dew-point temperature calculation section configured to calculate dew-point temperature from the temperature and the humidity measured by the temperature and humidity sensor; a mounting section cooling section configured to cool the mounting section to the dew-point temperature calculated by the dew-point temperature calculation section and cause condensation on a surface of the mounting section to be touched by the finger; and a photocatalyst-containing layer formed on at least the surface of the mounting section to be touched by the finger and containing a photocatalyst.