Speaker
Description
RADES (Relic Axion Detection Exploratory Setup) is a haloscope experiment designed to search for axions originating from the local dark matter galactic halo in the μeV mass range, under the assumption that dark matter is entirely composed of axions. The detection technique relies on a resonant cavity immersed in a strong magnetic field to enhance the conversion of axions into detectable photons. The collaboration has achieved significant progress in the development of novel cavity geometries, leading to two physics results at axion masses around 30 $\mu$eV.
To maximise the signal-to-noise ratio, the experiment operates at cryogenic temperatures using a dilution refrigerator capable of reaching approximately 10 mK. At such extreme low temperatures, superconducting devices, such as transmon qubits, can be employed as single-photon detectors, further improving signal sensitivity.
Thanks to the recently awarded ERC-SYG “Dark Quantum”, an innovative setup incorporating transmon qubits is currently being developed and tested within the collaboration. In this contribution, we present the first results of this endeavour obtained at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Garching.