Direct dark matter searches using ALPS II’s TES detection system

Christina Schwemmbauer, Yonit Hochberg, Katharina Sophie Isleif, Friederike Januschek, Benjamin V. Lehmann, Axel Lindner, Adriana E. Lita, Manuel Meyer, Sae Woo Nam, Gulden Othman, José Alejandro Rubiera Gimeno

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

The elusive Dark Matter (DM), proposed due to its gravitational interaction with ordinary matter, supposedly makes up ∼ 25 % of our universe’s energy content. Various models aim to explain the origin and properties of DM, many of these proposing beyond standard model particles. It is foreseen that the ALPS II (Any Light Particle Search II) light-shining-through-walls experiment will use NIST Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) to detect low-energy single-photons originating from axion(ALP)-photon conversion with rates as low as 10−5 s−1. Even beyond ALPS II, these superconducting microcalorimeters, operated at cryogenic temperatures, offer an approach to search for another class of particle-DM candidate. Much of the work to ensure the viability of the TES detector for use in ALPS II, such as calibrating the detector and mitigating external sources of backgrounds, also leads to the ability to utilize the TES for an independent direct-DM search. For this purpose, the superconducting sensor, sensitive to sub-eV energy depositions, can be used as a simultaneous target and sensor for DM-electron scattering for sub-MeV DM.

Original languageEnglish
Article number120
JournalProceedings of Science
Volume449
StatePublished - 21 Mar 2024
Event2023 European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics, EPS-HEP 2023 - Hamburg, Germany
Duration: 21 Aug 202325 Aug 2023

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