Information Encryption and Decryption Based on Excitation–Emission Matrix Fluorescence Hyperspectral Imaging and Multiway Chemometrics

As the demand for information integrity and privacy protection grows, interdisciplinary research is becoming increasingly essential for advancing information security technologies. This work proposed an information encryption and decryption strategy based on excitation-emission matrix fluorescence hyperspectral imaging (EEM-HSI) and multiway chemometrics. A novel algorithm, augmented three-directional intersection alternating trilinear decomposition (Augmented TDR-ATLD), was developed to process EEM-HSI data for decrypting information. Initially, the feasibility of this strategy was exemplified using simulated 4D and 5D EEM-HSI data containing encrypted information with 5D data being used for encryption for the first time. Two signal overlap conditions were designed to control the strength of the information encryption. By decrypting mixed signals at the pixel level to extract pure component signals and reconstructing pixels, we successfully decoded the encrypted information. Additionally, the practicality of this strategy was validated through real experimentation. Three rhodamine fluorescent dyes were added to a red watercolor to prepare anticounterfeiting ink, which were used to produce 2D and 3D anticounterfeiting patterns. The excitation-emission matrix fluorescence of each pixel was measured by using the front-face fluorescence instrument to generate EEM-HSI data. Augmented TDR-ATLD was then applied to decrypt mixed signals under scattering and an unknown interference. The results demonstrated that the anticounterfeiting patterns conveyed by different rhodamine fluorescent dyes were accurately decoded. In summary, this strategy, based on EEM-HSI and multiway chemometrics, provides a promising approach for advanced information security technology. It has the potential to be extended to more fields, thereby contributing to enhanced comprehensive information security protection.