Searching for Axion Dark Matter via Superconductor-Spin Hybrid Magnetometers
Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 191001 – Published 5 November, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/t2qc-469r
Abstract
Axions are a compelling dark matter candidate suggested by theories beyond the standard model. The predicted axion-electron coupling and the resulting pseudomagnetic field allow for laboratory axion searches. Here we report an experimental axion search via a superconductor-spin hybrid magnetometer. A state-of-the-art broadband magnetometer with a sensitivity of sub- at tens of kHz has been realized by coupling a ferrite spin sensor to a readout system based on a superconducting quantum interference device. The most stringent terrestrial constraints on the axion-electron coupling have been established in the frequency range . In the future, an improvement on the constraints of more than 3 orders of magnitude is foreseeable through arrays of superconductor-spin hybrid magnetometers with optimized designs. This Letter demonstrates the potential of superconductor-spin hybrid magnetometers in high-precision magnetic field sensing and the study of fundamental physics.