Light Dark Matter Search with a High-Resolution Athermal Phonon Detector Operated Above Ground

TL;DR

This study demonstrates the use of a high-resolution athermal phonon detector to set new limits on light dark matter interactions, highlighting its potential for future underground dark matter searches.

Contribution

First application of a high-resolution athermal phonon detector above ground to set competitive dark matter-nucleon scattering limits in the 93-140 MeV/c^2 mass range.

Findings

Set the most stringent limits for this mass range with cryogenic detectors.

Achieved an energy resolution of approximately 3.86 eV.

Demonstrated the potential of athermal phonon sensors for future dark matter detection.

Abstract

We present limits on spin-independent dark matter-nucleon interactions using a $10.6$ $\mathrm{g}$ Si athermal phonon detector with a baseline energy resolution of $\sigma_E=3.86 \pm 0.04$ $(\mathrm{stat.})^{+0.19}_{-0.00}$ $(\mathrm{syst.})$ $\mathrm{eV}$. This exclusion analysis sets the most stringent dark matter-nucleon scattering cross-section limits achieved by a cryogenic detector for dark matter particle masses from $93$ to $140$ $\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$, with a raw exposure of $9.9$ $\mathrm{g}\cdot\mathrm{d}$ acquired at an above-ground facility. This work illustrates the scientific potential of detectors with athermal phonon sensors with eV-scale energy resolution for future dark matter searches.