A system and method for manufacturing and authenticating a component is provided. The method includes forming a component having an identifying region that contains two or more materials having different conductivities such that the identifying region generates an eddy current response signature that defines a component identifier of the component. The method further includes interrogating the identifying region of the surface with an eddy current probe to determine the component identifier. The component identifier may be stored in a database as a reference identifier and may be used for authenticating components.