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1. Light dark matter constraints from SuperCDMS HVeV detectors operated underground with an anticoincidence event selection

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.012006  

   Albakry, M F; Alkhatib, I; Alonso-González, D; Amaral, D_W P; Anczarski, J; Aralis, T; Aramaki, T; Arnquist, I J; Ataee_Langroudy, I; Azadbakht, E; et al (January 2025, Physical Review D)

   This article presents constraints on dark-matter-electron interactions obtained from the first underground data-taking campaign with multiple SuperCDMS HVeV detectors operated in the same housing. An exposure of $7.63\mathrm{g}\text{−}\mathrm{days}$ is used to set upper limits on the dark-matter-electron scattering cross section for dark matter masses between 0.5 and $1000\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$ , as well as upper limits on dark photon kinetic mixing and axionlike particle axioelectric coupling for masses between 1.2 and $23.3\mathrm{eV}/c^2$ . Compared to an earlier HVeV search, sensitivity was improved as a result of an increased overburden of 225 meters of water equivalent, an anticoincidence event selection, and better pile-up rejection. In the case of dark-matter-electron scattering via a heavy mediator, an improvement by up to a factor of 25 in cross section sensitivity was achieved. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

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2. Search for Light Dark Matter in Low-Energy Ionization Signals from XENONnT

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.161004  

   Aprile, E; Aalbers, J; Abe, K; Ahmed_Maouloud, S; Althueser, L; Andrieu, B; Angelino, E; Antón_Martin, D; Arneodo, F; Baudis, L; et al (April 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   We report on a blinded search for dark matter with single- and few-electron signals in the first science run of XENONnT relying on a novel detector response framework that is physics model dependent. We derive 90% confidence upper limits for dark matter-electron interactions. Heavy and light mediator cases are considered for the standard halo model and dark matter up-scattered in the Sun. We set stringent new limits on dark matter-electron scattering via a heavy mediator with a mass within $10–20\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$ and electron absorption of axionlike particles and dark photons for $m_{\chi }$ below $0.03\mathrm{keV}/c^2$ . Published by the American Physical Society2025 

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3. First Limits on Light Dark Matter Interactions in a Low Threshold Two-Channel Athermal Phonon Detector from the TESSERACT Collaboration

   https://doi.org/10.1103/hsrl-crvf  

   Bui, T K; Chang, C L; Chang, Y-Y; Chaplinsky, L; Fink, C W; Garcia-Sciveres, M; Guo, W; Hertel, S A; Juigne, L; Kavner, A_R L; et al (October 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   We present results of a search for spin-independent dark matter-nucleus interactions in a $1{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ by 1 mm thick (0.233 g) high-resolution silicon athermal phonon detector operated above ground. For interactions in the substrate, this detector achieves an rms baseline energy resolution of $361.5\left(4\right)\mathrm{m}\mathrm{eV}$ (statistical error), the best for any athermal phonon detector to date. With an exposure of $0.233\mathrm{g}\times 12$ hours, we place the most stringent constraints on dark matter masses between 44 and $87\mathrm{M}\mathrm{eV}/{\mathrm{c}}^2$ , with the lowest unexplored cross section of $4\times {10}^{-32}{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^2$ at $87\mathrm{M}\mathrm{eV}/{\mathrm{c}}^2$ . We employ a conservative salting technique to reach the lowest dark matter mass ever probed via direct detection experiment. This constraint is enabled by two-channel rejection of low energy backgrounds that are coupled to individual sensors. 

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4. MINER reactor based search for axionlike particles using sapphire ( ${\text{Al}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3$ ) detectors

   https://doi.org/10.1103/tbwx-b5lx  

   Mirzakhani, M; Baker, W; Chaudhuri, M; Dent, J B; Dey, R; Dutta, B; Iyer, V; Jastram, A; Kashyap, V_K S; Kubik, A; et al (August 2025, Physical Review D)

   The absence of definitive results for WIMP dark matter has sparked growing interest in alternative dark matter candidates, such as axions and axionlike particles (ALPs), which also provide insight into the strong CP problem. The Mitchell Institute Neutrino Experiment at Reactor (MINER), conducted at the Nuclear Science Center of Texas A&M University, investigated ALPs near a 1 MW h TRIGA nuclear reactor core, positioned approximately 4 m away. This experiment employed cryogenic sapphire detectors with a low detection threshold ( $\approx 100\mathrm{eV}$ ), equipped with a transition edge sensor capable of detecting athermal phonons. Due to the low-background environment, we were able to exclude ALPs with axion-photon coupling and axion-electron coupling as small as $g_{a\gamma \gamma }={10}^{-5}$ and $g_{aee}={10}^{-7}$ , respectively. Energy depositions below 3 keV were not considered and remain blinded for our coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering analysis. This is the first result demonstrating the MINER experiment’s potential to probe low-mass ALPs, enabled by its low-threshold detector and proximity to a reactor. 

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5. Probing Benchmark Models of Hidden-Sector Dark Matter with DAMIC-M

   https://doi.org/10.1103/2tcc-bqck  

   Aggarwal, K; Arnquist, I; Avalos, N; Bertou, X; Castelló-Mor, N; Chavarria, A E; Cuevas-Zepeda, J; Dastgheibi-Fard, A; De_Dominicis, C; Deligny, O; et al (August 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   We report on a search for sub-GeV dark matter (DM) particles interacting with electrons using the DAMIC-M prototype detector at the Modane Underground Laboratory. The data feature a significantly lower detector single $e^{-}$ rate (factor 50) compared to our previous search, while also accumulating a 10 times larger exposure of $\sim 1.3\mathrm{kg}\text{−}\mathrm{day}$ . DM interactions in the skipper charge-coupled devices (CCDs) are searched for as groups of two or three adjacent pixels with a total charge between 2 and $4e^{-}$ . We find 144 candidates of $2e^{-}$ and 1 candidate of $4e^{-}$ , where 141.5 and 0.071, respectively, are expected from background. With no evidence of a DM signal, we place stringent constraints on DM particles with masses between 1 and $1000\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$ interacting with electrons through an ultralight or heavy mediator. For large ranges of DM masses below $1\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$ , we exclude theoretically motivated benchmark scenarios where hidden-sector particles are produced as a major component of DM in the Universe through the freeze-in or freeze-out mechanisms. 

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