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Dark-Matter–Electron Detectors for Dark-Matter–Nucleon Interactions

Sinéad M. Griffin1,2, Guy Daniel Hadas3, Yonit Hochberg3,4, Katherine Inzani5, and Benjamin V. Lehmann6

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 141803 – Published 30 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6qqv-rl7q

Abstract

In a seminal paper now a decade old, it was shown that dark-matter detectors geared at probing interactions with nucleons could also be used to probe dark-matter interactions with electrons. In this Letter, we show that new detector concepts designed to probe dark-matter–electron interactions at low masses can similarly be used to probe new parameter space for dark-matter–nucleon interactions. We demonstrate the power of this approach by using existing data from superconducting detectors to place new limits on the interactions of nuclei with MeV-scale dark matter. Further, we show that advances in detector technology that have been anticipated for electronic interactions will automatically extend sensitivity deep into uncharted territory for nuclear interactions. This doubles the effective science output of future low-threshold experiments.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 141803– Published 30 September, 2025
  • Received 3 March 2025
  • Revised 3 July 2025
  • Accepted 14 August 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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