Speaker
Description
The SUPerconducting AXion search experiment, SUPAX, is a new axion haloscope currently being built at the University of Bonn to search for axion and axion-like particle dark matter in the microwave regime. The experiment will operate inside a 12 T superconducting solenoid at a base temperature of about 10 mK and will employ tunable microwave cavities covering resonance frequencies from 2 GHz to 7.2 GHz, corresponding to axion masses of approximately 8–30 μeV. A central design feature is a compact multi-cavity system that maximizes the available magnetized volume while enabling the simultaneous scan of several frequency bands.
The first phase will use high-purity copper cavities, with superconducting ReBCO-coated cavities foreseen as an upgrade to increase the quality factor and hence the scan rate and coupling reach. The readout is based on a near-quantum-limited microwave receiver chain using traveling wave parametric amplifiers followed by cryogenic HEMT amplification. With this configuration, SUPAX aims reach sensitvity to the QCD axion band over parts of the 8–30 μeV mass range within one year measurement time. The projected scan rates are strongly enhanced by the multi-cavity concept and by the planned transition from normal-conducting to superconducting resonators.
In this contribution, I will present the experimental concept of SUPAX, the status of the Bonn installation, the cavity and tuning design as well as the expected sensitivity prospects. I will also report on results from the pathfinder experiment operated at Mainz, including dark-photon searches and first axion-search results in a narrow mass window, and will outline the planned data-taking program with the new Bonn setup.
| Primary Abstract Topic | Experiment: Axions and Wave-Like-DM |
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