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CEνNS search with cryogenic sapphire detectors at MINER: Results from the TRIGA reactor data and future sensitivity at HFIR

D. Mondal1,2, W. Baker3, M. Chaudhuri1,2, J. B. Dent4, R. Dey1,2, B. Dutta3, V. Iyer5, A. Jastram6, V. K. S. Kashyap1,2 et al. (MINER Collaboration)

V. K. S. Kashyap1,2, A. Kubik7, K. Lang8, R. Mahapatra3, S. Maludze3, N. Mirabolfathi3, M. Mirzakhani3, B. Mohanty1,2,*, H. Neog9, J. L. Newstead10, M. Platt3, S. Sahoo3, J. Sander11, L. E. Strigari3, and J. Walker4 (MINER Collaboration)

  • 1National Institute of Science Education and Research, Jatni-752050, Odisha, India
  • 2Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai, 400094, Maharashtra, India
  • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, 578 University Drive, College Station, 77840, Texas, USA
  • 4Department of Physics, Sam Houston State University, 1905 University Avenue, Huntsville, Texas, 77340, USA
  • 5Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 27 King’s College Circle, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A7, Canada
  • 6Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 202 Spence Street, College Station, 77840, Texas, USA
  • 7SNOLAB, Creighton Mine No. 9, 1039 Regional Road 24, Sudbury, Ontario, P3Y 1N2, Canada
  • 8Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway, Austin, Texas, 78712, USA
  • 9School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, USA
  • 10ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, School of Physics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
  • 11Department of Physics, University of South Dakota, 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, South Dakota, 57069, USA

  • *Contact author: bedanga@niser.ac.in
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 032009 – Published 26 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/115m-y8mg

Abstract

We report on a search for coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) using cryogenic sapphire (Al2O3) detectors deployed at the Mitchell Institute Neutrino Experiment at Reactor (MINER), located near the 1  MWth TRIGA research reactor at Texas A&M University. The experiment operated with a primary detector mass of 72 g and achieved a baseline energy resolution of ∼40  eV. Using exposures of 158  g−days (reactor-ON) and 381  g−days (reactor-OFF), we performed a statistical background subtraction in the energy region of 0.25–3 keV. A geant4 simulation has been performed to understand the reactor-correlated background present in the data, and it agrees with our observations. After accounting for this background, the profile-χ2 analysis yields no statistically significant CEνNS excess. The best-fit signal strength is consistent with the physical boundary (ρ=0), and we set a 90% confidence level upper limit of ρ<2213 on the CEνNS rate relative to the Standard Model prediction. This result indicates that the current analysis is dominated by residual low-energy backgrounds. To have enhanced sensitivity, the MINER Collaboration plans to relocate the experiment to the 85  MWth High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). With improved shielding, increased detector mass, and higher antineutrino flux, the upgraded setup is projected to achieve a 3σ CEνNS detection within 30  kg−days of exposure.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 032009– Published 26 August, 2026
  • Received 27 October 2025
  • Accepted 13 July 2026
Article part of CHORUS
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