Presented at
DEF CON 33 (2025),
Aug. 9, 2025, 12:30 p.m.
(45 minutes).
Learn how to build a state-of-the-art quantum sensor, no physics PhD necessary!
Quantum Technology may sound like a faraway ultra-neon cyber fever dream, and in the case of quantum computing it may be some time before we’re swapping QPUs on our laptops… But Quantum Sensing is here, and we felt the time was about right to break open this technology for all.
We designed and are releasing the first ever fully open source, hackable quantum sensor. Utilising common off the shelf parts, and a sample of Nitrogen-Vacancy Centre Diamond, we will be able to measure magnetic fields with light. We will show you how to build your own device, what tech is required, and how to get a signal from the diamond. We’ll discuss some of the use cases of these sensors, from medtech to defeating GPS jamming. Then we’ll show you how to hack with it, taking the first steps to using these sensors to infer the behaviour of a chip via magnetometry. #QuantumHackers
This talk is the main demonstration of this year’s Quantum Village Badge - an actual quantum sensor released for the International Year of Quantum. Whilst others will make you think that you need advanced degrees and an expensive lab, we’ll be building quantum sensors in our garages and pushing the limits of this brand new technology; Access All Atoms!
References:
- ChipWhisperer H-Field Probe: [link](https://www.newae.com/products/nae-hprobe-15)
- Stegemann et al. - Modular low-cost 3D printed setup for experiments with NV centers in diamond - [link](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6404/acbe7c/pdf)
- Introduction to Quantum Sensing for HS students from Quantum Journal - [link](https://quantum-journal.org/views/qv-2018-07-17-10/)
Presenters:
-
Mark "LargeCardinal" Carney
Mark is a mathematician and Quantum Hacker. Working at the bleeding edge of technology for two decades, he- a has presented on an array of topics stemming from his work on quantum information, machine learning, cryptography and cybersecurity data science. He has presented at major conferences around the world and his work was recently nominated for Innovation of the Year at the SANS Difference Makers Awards. Mark co-founded Quantum Village.
-
Victoria "V__Wave" Kumaran
Victoria has been hacking her way through tech over the years, making her first software tool aged 8. Victoria has a background in product design, has paid her dues in finance, has run startups using machine learning for cybersecurity & malware analysis and was an Entrepreneurial Lead on the NSF I-Corps Program. She studied art and design at Central Saint Martins and co-founded Quantum Village.
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