A record announced in Vienna
A QR code occupying less space than most bacteria: that is the result presented on 16 February by Vienna University of Technology, TU Wien, together with Cerabyte. Its area is approximately 1.98 square micrometres. Guinness World Records recognises the achievement, completed in December 2025.
The figure describes an area, not the length of a side. This distinction avoids directly comparing the announced 1.98 µm² with a dimension in millimetres on a label. The Guinness record gives the more precise measurement of 1.977 µm² and reports independent verification at the University of Vienna.
Reading requires electron microscopy
The researchers use a focused ion beam to structure a thin ceramic film. According to TU Wien, the pattern elements measure just 49 nanometres. The code is too fine to distinguish with a conventional optical microscope: observation relies on electron microscopy.
The achievement therefore concerns the entire chain: writing a pattern at this scale, preserving it and obtaining a usable image. It does not mean a phone can directly scan such a tiny engraving. Shrinking a QR file in layout software does not reproduce the experiment.
A possible path for long-term archives
The interest extends beyond the size record. The team is studying materials capable of preserving engraved information over long periods. Substrate stability matters as much as the fineness of the pattern: tiny details are useful only if they remain recognisable when read.
The centuries or millennia discussed by the university belong to this research outlook. They do not represent a preservation test already conducted for millennia, or a guarantee for your files. The physical medium, the equipment required to read it and the format used to interpret the data also remain distinct concerns.
On a poster, readability still comes first
For a menu, card or label, the goal remains for someone to read the QR easily with their device. Distance, print quality, contrast and the amount of content matter more than a miniaturisation record. A code can physically exist yet be unusable in the actual conditions of the material.
Qurl’s QR size tool helps prepare a size intended for everyday reading. The capacity and density guide explains the role of content, while the printing guide helps with file selection. These tools produce ordinary QR codes; they do not perform nanoscale engraving.