Detecting Axion Dark Matter with an Organic Molecular Maser

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum sensing method using an organic molecular maser to search for axion dark matter, achieving competitive sensitivity in a less-explored mass range and demonstrating a versatile approach for dark matter detection.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel quantum sensing technique employing an organic molecular maser for axion dark matter detection, establishing a proof-of-principle with high magnetic field sensitivity.

Findings

Achieved a sensitivity of 8 imes 10^{-6} GeV^{-1} for axion-electron coupling.

Demonstrated a magnetic field sensitivity of 0.85 fT/√Hz.

Proposed a versatile, quantum-enhanced detection method applicable to various physical systems.

Abstract

We present a novel quantum sensing approach to search for axion-electron interactions around the axion mass of 6 \mueV. In this region, laboratory searches are relatively scarce, and our direct experiment measuring the axion-electron coupling constant reaches the sensitivity of 8 \times 10^{-6} GeV^{-1}. The method, based on an organic molecular maser establishes a proof-of-principle for quantum-enhanced detection, with a corresponding magnetic field sensitivity of 0.85 fT/\sqrt{\rm{Hz}}. The methodology is generic and can be readily extended to other physical systems, further broadening its applicability in quantum sensing and dark matter searches.