Speaker
Description
Travelling-wave kinetic inductance parametric amplifiers (KIPAs) are cryogenic quantum-noise limited devices with O(10) dB gain over an octave or more of bandwidth, making them well suited for microwave domain astroparticle measurements. We present results from an experiment coupling a 4-8 GHz KIPA to a dish and antenna system to search for hidden-photon dark matter candidates. A cryogenically cooled reflector focuses hidden-photons onto a horn antenna, which is then amplified by the KIPA. The broadband nature of the reflector experiment neatly couples to the broadband amplification provided by KIPAs and we demonstrate a first probing of the hidden-photon kinetic mixing parameter $\epsilon$ down below $10^{-12}$ for hidden-photon masses between 20-30 μeV. We discuss relevant experimental challenges and present a roadmap to achieving $\epsilon$ sensitivity down to $10^{-14}$ for frequencies up to a THz.
