Deep-underground dark matter search with a COSINUS detector prototype

Sodium iodide (NaI)-based cryogenic scintillating calorimeters using quantum sensors for signal readout have shown promising first results toward a model-independent test of the annually modulating signal detected by the DAMA/LIBRA dark matter experiment. The COSINUS Collaboration has previously reported on the first above-ground measurements using a dual-channel readout of phonons and light based on transition edge sensors (TESs) that allows for particle discrimination on an event-by-event basis. In this article, we outline the first underground measurement of a NaI cryogenic calorimeter readout via the novel remoTES scheme. A 3.67 g NaI absorber with an improved silicon light detector design was operated at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. A significant improvement in the discrimination power of e−/γ events to nuclear recoils was observed with a fivefold improvement in the nuclear recoil baseline resolution, achieving σ=441 eV. Furthermore, we present a limit on the spin-independent dark matter nucleon elastic scattering cross section, achieving a sensitivity of O(pb) with an exposure of only 11.6 g d. Published by the American Physical Society 2024