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Sub-Terahertz (THz) frequencies between 100 GHz and 300 GHz are being considered as a key enabler for the sixthgeneration (6G) wireless communications due to the vast amounts of unused spectrum. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) included the indoor industrial environments as a scenario of interest since Release 15. This paper presents recent sub- THz channel measurements using directional horn antennas of 27 dBi gain at 142 GHz in a factory building, which hosts equipment manufacturing startups. Directional measurements with copolarized and cross-polarized antenna configurations were conducted over distances from 6 to 40 meters. Omnidirectional and directional path loss with two antenna polarization configurations produce the gross cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) with a mean of 27.7 dB, which suggests that dual-polarized antenna arrays can provide good multiplexing gain for sub-THz wireless systems. The measured power delay profile and power angular spectrum show the maximum root mean square (RMS) delay spread of 66.0 nanoseconds and the maximum RMS angular spread of 103.7 degrees using a 30 dB threshold, indicating the factory scenario is a rich-scattering environment due to a massive number of metal structures and objects. This work will facilitate emerging sub-THz applications such as super-resolution sensing and positioning for future smart factories. 

Abstract Radiogenic neutrons emitted by detector materials are one of the most challenging backgrounds for the direct search of dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). To mitigate this background, the XENONnT experiment is equipped with a novel gadolinium-doped water Cherenkov detector, which encloses the xenon dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC). The neutron veto (NV) can tag neutrons via their capture on gadolinium or hydrogen, which release$$\gamma $$ $\gamma$-rays that are subsequently detected as Cherenkov light. In this work, we present the first results of the XENONnT NV when operated with demineralized water only, before the insertion of gadolinium. Its efficiency for detecting neutrons is$$({82\pm 1}){\%}$$ $\left(82\pm 1\right)\%$, the highest neutron detection efficiency achieved in a water Cherenkov detector. This enables a high efficiency of$$({53\pm 3}){\%}$$ $\left(53\pm 3\right)\%$for the tagging of WIMP-like neutron signals, inside a tagging time window of$${250}~{\upmu }\hbox {s}$$ $250\mu \text{s}$between TPC and NV, leading to a livetime loss of$${1.6}{\%}$$ $1.6\%$during the first science run of XENONnT. 

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