Speaker
Description
A search for resonance excitation of $^7$Li by the solar axions has been realized with the Li$_2$MoO$_4$ scintillation bolometers, used to search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{100}$Mo in the AMoRE project at the phase-1 experiment. The detection of 478 keV de-excitation gamma of $^7$Li$^*$ would indicate the existence of solar axion. The five Li$_2$MoO$_4$ crystals, used as a target and detector for the AMoRE experiment, give this mechanism 14.2% detection efficiency. The data from 1.6 kg Li$_2$MoO$_4$ (118.5 g of 7Li contained) crystals were accumulated using phonon sensors at 10-20 mK for 11 months at the Yangyang underground laboratory in Korea. The detailed analysis procedure and the preliminary results are presented. Preliminary, a new upper limit on axion mass is set as ma < 5.6 keV. The sensitivity is expected to be improved to the level of ~2 keV by the AMoRE phase II experiment in preparation now.
