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Abstract Capitalizing on the photoacoustic effect, we developed a new fingerprint sensing system that can reveal both fingerprints and underlying vascular structures at a high spatial resolution. Our system is built on a 15 MHz linear transducer array, a research ultrasound system, and a 532-nm pulsed laser. A 3D image was obtained by scanning the linear array over the fingertip. The acquired fingerprint images strongly agreed with the images acquired from ultrasound. Additional experiments were also conducted to investigate the effect of acoustic coupling. We discovered that high-quality fingerprint and vessel images can be acquired from both wet and dry fingers using our photoacoustic system. The reduced subdermal features in dry coupling can be enhanced through post-processing. Compared to existing fingerprint scanners, the photoacoustic approach provides a higher quality 3D image of the fingerprint, as well as unique subdermal vasculature structures, making the system almost impossible to counterfeit.