First Axion Search Results of the SUPAX Prototype Experiment

Abstract

The SUPerconduction AXion search experiment (Supax) is a future haloscope-type detector designed to probe axion-like particles (ALPs) as candidates for dark matter and solutions to the strong-CP problem in the mass range between $8\mu$eV and $30\mu$eV. In the course of the preparation of Supax, a prototype experiment was built and operated. Using a copper cavity, cooled down to a temperature of 2 K and operated in a magnetic field of 12 T, we probe axion masses around $34\mu$eV and exclude axion-photon couplings down to $|g_{a\gamma \gamma }|>1.6\cdot 10^{-13}$GeV${}^{-1}$. The data was also used to exclude dark photons in the same mass range with a kinetic mixing parameter of $\chi >1.4\cdot 10^{-12}$. Details of the experimental setup and the analysis strategy are summarized in this paper.

9 pages, 8 figures