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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 16: Search for Dark Matter I

T 16.6: Vortrag

Montag, 16. März 2026, 17:30–17:45, AM 00.014

Towards DELight: First Results from a Prototype R&D Cell — •Anna Bertolini for the DELight collaboration — Kirchhoff-Institut für Physik, Universität Heidelberg

As direct detection experiments continue to push down the limits on heavy WIMPs, the low-mass dark matter (DM) regime remains comparatively unexplored. Probing this region requires detectors that combine sub-keV energy thresholds with large exposures. The Direct search Experiment for Light dark matter (DELight) aims to meet this challenge by using superfluid helium-4 as a target material and magnetic micromalorimeters (MMCs), enabling excellent energy resolution and detection thresholds of only a few eV. As a first step toward the full experiment, we have developed a dedicated R&D cell to study the MMC response to particle interactions in superfluid helium. In this setup, a 300-ml copper cell is cooled to ~10 mK, where an MMC fabricated on a silicon substrate and a resistive heater are fully submerged in the superfluid. This configuration allows us to characterize the detector response to both particle induced signals in helium and controlled heater pulses. In this contribution, we present the R&D setup, its operational performance, and the first experimental results that form the foundation for the DELight experiment. This work is supported through the Heidelberg Karlsruhe Strategic Partnership (HEiKA STAR).

Keywords: Detector R&D; MMC; Cryogenic; Superfluid Helium; Phonons