1. A method for identifying an object, comprising: depositing a pattern of plasmon resonant entities (PREs) on at least a portion of a surface of the object; illuminating the pattern with a light source adapted to excite plasmon resonance in the PREs; microscopically detecting an emission pattern corresponding to the pattern of PREs; generating an image corresponding to the detected emission pattern; comparing the image with one or more reference images stored within an image database, wherein the one or more reference images are associated with one or more potential identities of the object; and if the image matches a reference image within the image database, generating a report comprising an identity of the object, and if the image fails to match any reference image within the image database, generating a report indicating a failure to identify.