Fingerprint imaging of dry finger using photoacoustics.

Fingerprint imaging has been widely used in biometric identification systems. This work presents a photoacoustic (PA) fingerprint imaging system that provides acoustic resolution using a pulsed laser and focused ultrasound transducer operating as a receiver. This PA system can measure dry fingers with a wide-range laser field based on the differences in the ultrasound coupling between the fingertip areas contacting and not contacting a solid plate. To demonstrate and validate the image accuracy of the PA system, PA fingerprint images were compared to images captured using a pulse-echo ultrasound system and an ink-pressed fingerprint scan.