We present the results of a search for dark matter weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in the mass range below $20\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$ using a target of low-radioactivity argon with a 6786.0 kg d exposure. The data were obtained using the DarkSide-50 apparatus at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. The analysis is based on the ionization signal, for which the DarkSide-50 time projection chamber is fully efficient at $0.1\mathrm{keV}\text{ee}$. The observed rate in the detector at $0.5\mathrm{keV}\text{ee}$ is about $1.5\mathrm{event}/\mathrm{keV}\text{ee}/\mathrm{kg}/\mathrm{d}$ and is almost entirely accounted for by known background sources. We obtain a 90% C.L. exclusion limit above $1.8\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$ for the spin-independent cross section of dark matter WIMPs on nucleons, extending the exclusion region for dark matter below previous limits in the range $1.8–6\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$.

We present new constraints on sub-GeV dark-matter particles scattering off electrons based on 6780.0 kg d of data collected with the DarkSide-50 dual-phase argon time projection chamber. This analysis uses electroluminescence signals due to ionized electrons extracted from the liquid argon target. The detector has a very high trigger probability for these signals, allowing for an analysis threshold of three extracted electrons, or approximately 0.05 keVee. We calculate the expected recoil spectra for dark matter-electron scattering in argon and, under the assumption of momentum-independent scattering, improve upon existing limits from XENON10 for dark-matter particles with masses between 30 and $100\mathrm{MeV}/c^2$.

The DarkSide-50 direct-detection dark matter experiment is a dual-phase argon time projection chamber operating at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. This paper reports on the blind analysis of a $(16660\pm 270)\mathrm{kg}\mathrm{d}$ exposure using a target of low-radioactivity argon extracted from underground sources. We find no events in the dark matter selection box and set a 90% C.L. upper limit on the dark matter–nucleon spin-independent cross section of $1.14\times {10}^{-44}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ ($3.78\times {10}^{-44}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$, $3.43\times {10}^{-43}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$) for a WIMP mass of $100\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$ ($1\mathrm{TeV}/c^2$, $10\mathrm{TeV}/c^2$).