In recent years, theoretical and experimental interest in dark matter (DM) candidates have shifted focus from primarily Weakly-Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) to an entire suite of candidates with masses from the zeV-scale to the PeV-scale to 30 solar masses. One particular recent development has been searches for light dark matter (LDM), which is typically defined as candidates with masses in the range of keV to GeV. In searches for LDM, eV-scale and below detector thresholds are needed to detect the small amount of kinetic energy that is imparted to nuclei in a recoil. One such detector technology that can be applied to LDM searches is that of Transition-Edge Sensors (TESs). Operated at cryogenic temperatures, these sensors can achieve the required thresholds, depending on the optimization of the design.
In this thesis, I will motivate the evidence for DM and the various DM candidates beyond the WIMP. I will then detail the basics of TES characterization, expand and apply the concepts to an athermal phonon sensor--based Cryogenic PhotoDetector (CPD), and use this detector to carry out a search for LDM at the surface. The resulting exclusion analysis provides the most stringent limits in DM-nucleon scattering cross section (comparing to contemporary searches) for a cryogenic detector for masses from 93 to 140 MeV, showing the promise of athermal phonon sensors in future LDM searches. Furthermore, unknown excess background signals are observed in this LDM search, for which I rule out various possible sources and motivate stress-related microfractures as an intriguing explanation. Finally, I will shortly discuss the outlook of future searches for LDM for various detection channels beyond nuclear recoils.
First Limits on Light Dark Matter Interactions in a Low Threshold Two Channel Athermal Phonon Detector from the TESSERACT Collaboration
International Center for Quantum-field Measurement Systems for Studies of the Universe and Particles (QUP,WPI), High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK)（宇宙与粒子研究量子场测量系统国际中心（QUP，WPI），高能加速器研究机构（KEK））；Argonne National Laboratory（阿贡国家实验室）；Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, The University of Chicago（芝加哥大学卡弗里宇宙物理学研究所）；Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The University of Chicago（芝加哥大学天文与天体物理系）；University of California Berkeley, Department of Physics（加州大学伯克利分校物理系）；University of Massachusetts, Amherst Center for Fundamental Interactions and Department of Physics（马萨诸塞大学安姆斯特分校基础相互作用中心及物理系）；Los Alamos National Laboratory（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室）；Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室）；FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Florida State University（佛罗里达州立大学 FAMU-FSU 工程学院）；National High Magnetic Field Laboratory（国家高磁场实验室）
Performance of a SuperCDMS HVeV Detector with Sub-eV Energy Resolution and Single Charge-sensitivity
Northwestern University（西北大学）；SLAC National Laboratory（斯坦福直线加速器中心）；University of Toronto（多伦多大学）；Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)（卡尔斯鲁厄理工学院）；University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学）
Rare Event Searches Using Cryogenic Detectors via Direct Detection Methods
National Institute of Science Education and Research（国家科学教育与研究中心）；Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University（复旦大学现代物理研究所）；Department of Physics, University of Toronto（多伦多大学物理系）
Significant noise improvement in a Kinetic Inductance Phonon-Mediated detector by use of a wideband parametric amplifier
Washington University in St. Louis（圣路易斯华盛顿大学）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（斯坦福直线加速器中心）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Stanford University（斯坦福大学）
Quantum Parity Detectors: a qubit based particle detection scheme with meV thresholds for rare-event searches
Washington University in St. Louis（华盛顿大学）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；Weizmann Institute of Science（魏茨曼科学研究所）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院喷气推进实验室）
Enhanced Dark Matter Sensitivity using a Hybrid SiPM-SNSPD-Qubit Detector in Liquid Argon
Laboratory of Advanced Technologies and Instruments, IRSRA（IRSRA先进技术与仪器实验室）；Institute of Theoretical Physics, INRC（INRC理论物理研究所）；Energy Research Center, Al-Nahrain University（纳海林大学能源研究中心）；Laboratory of Quantum Information, JINNR（JINNR量子信息实验室）
Sensitivity enhancement techniques for cryogenic calorimeters in the NUCLEUS experiment
Technische Universität Wien（维也纳工业大学）；Max-Planck-Institut für Physik（马克斯·普朗克物理研究所）；Marietta-Blau-Institut für Teilchenphysik der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften（奥地利科学院玛丽埃塔·布劳粒子物理研究所）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Sezione di Roma "Tor Vergata"（罗马大学托维尔加塔国家核物理研究所分部）；IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学CEA IRFU）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Sezione di Roma（罗马国家核物理研究所分部）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma（罗马智慧大学物理系）；Physik-Department, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Technische Universität München（慕尼黑工业大学自然科学学院物理系）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata"（罗马托维尔加塔大学物理系）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Ferrara（费拉拉大学物理系）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Sezione di Ferrara（费拉拉国家核物理研究所分部）；LIBPhys-UC, Departamento de Fisica, Universidade de Coimbra（科英布拉大学LIBPhys-UC物理系）；Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik（马克斯·普朗克核物理研究所）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso（大萨索国家核物理实验室）；kiutra GmbH（kiutra有限公司）
