Speaker
Description
The search for dark matter has broadened to focus on a much wider class of candidates than in previous decades, including particle-like dark matter at the MeV-GeV mass scale. Lighter than traditional WIMPs, these particles deposit less energy in nuclear or electronic interactions; thus, discovering them will require low energy thresholds and cryogenic temperatures. In this talk, I will describe the progress of the SPICE experiment, part of the TESSERACT collaboration, to search for light dark matter using crystalline targets such as GaAs and Sapphire. I will detail specific thrusts of our ongoing R&D efforts: reducing low-energy backgrounds, improving energy resolution, developing transition-edge sensors, and conducting MeV-scale dark matter searches.
