Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 103: Search for Dark Matter IV

T 103.2: Talk

Friday, March 20, 2026, 09:15–09:30, AM 00.014

Results of a Cryogenic Multi-Channel 4π Veto Module in the CRESST Experiment — •Àfrica González Pedraza for the CRESST collaboration — Technical University of Munich, Garching

CRESST is a cryogenic experiment searching for sub-GeV dark matter via direct scattering off a target crystal's nucleus. The resulting energy transfer causes a nuclear recoil that increases the target's temperature, measured by a Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) enabling energy thresholds of O(10 eV).

Currently, one of the main sensitivity limitations is an unexpected rise in the event rate below 200 eV, known as the Low-Energy Excess (LEE). One of the leading hypotheses attributes the LEE to mechanical stress stored at material interfaces. To investigate the holder-induced stress component, CRESST employs a dedicated three-channel module that integrates an instrumented holder and a beaker-shaped, large-coverage light detector in addition to the standard CRESST detector configuration.

To precisely characterize the detector response to sub-keV nuclear recoils, the signature of dark matter, CRESST is transitioning to a novel calibration method based on thermal neutron capture, which has the additional advantage of not increasing the backgrounds outside the dedicated calibration campaigns.

This talk presents the latest results from the CRESST beaker module operated at LNGS on the LEE and demonstrates that low-energy nuclear-recoil calibration is achievable in CRESST sapphire detectors.

Keywords: Dark matter; Direct detection; Cryogenic detectors; Transition-Edge Sensor; Low-Energy Excess