Jesús Pérez-Ríos Fritz-Haber-Institute der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft In this talk, we present a novel direct detection concept to search for dark matter with 100 keV to 100 MeV masses. Here, dark matter scatters off molecules, and as a consequence, the molecules are promoted to excited rovibrational stated. These excited states rapidly decay through photon emissions that are recorded as the signal. We discuss in detail carbon monoxide at a temperature of 50K and with high vapor pressure, leading to efficient photon emission. Using different isotopes of the molecule, the target becomes sensitive to spin-dependent dark matter interactions with the neutron. Besides, we consider a target made of halogen halides, which probe spin-dependent dark matter interactions with the proton. The present detection concept can be realized with near-term technology and allows for the exploration of orders of magnitude of new dark matter parameter space.
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