Ultralight axion-like particles are well-motivated dark matter candidates introduced by theories beyond the standard model of particle physics. However, directly constraining their parameter space with laboratory experiments usually yields weaker limits than indirect approaches relying on astrophysical observations. Here we report the search for axion-like particles with a quantum sensor in the mass range of 8.3–744.0 feV. The sensor makes use of hyperpolarized long-lived nuclear spins as a pre-amplifier that effectively enhances a coherently oscillating axion-like dark matter field by a factor of more than 100. Using these spin-based amplifiers, we achieve an ultrahigh magnetic sensitivity of 18 fT Hz^–(1/2), which exceeds the performance of state-of-the-art nuclear spin magnetometers. Our experiment constrains the parameter space describing the coupling of axion-like particles to nucleons over the aforementioned mass range, namely, at 67.5 feV reaching 2.9 × 10⁻⁹ GeV⁻¹, improving on previous laboratory constraints by at least five orders of magnitude. Our measurements also constrain the quadratic interaction between axion-like particles and nucleons as well as interactions between dark photons and nucleons, exceeding bounds from astrophysical observations.

超轻类轴子粒子是由超出粒子物理学标准模型的理论引入的具有良好动机的暗物质候选者。然而，与依赖天体物理观测的间接方法相比，通过实验室实验直接限制其参数空间通常会产生更弱的限制。在这里，我们报告了使用质量范围为 8.3-744.0 feV 的量子传感器搜索类轴子粒子。该传感器利用超极化长寿命核自旋作为前置放大器，有效地将相干振荡的轴子状暗物质场增强 100 倍以上。使用这些基于自旋的放大器，我们实现了18 英尺赫兹^–(1/2)，这超过了最先进的核自旋磁力计的性能。我们的实验在上述质量范围内限制了描述类轴子粒子与核子耦合的参数空间，即在 67.5 feV 达到 2.9 × 10 ^-9  GeV ^-1时，将先前的实验室限制提高了至少五个数量级。我们的测量还限制了类轴子粒子和核子之间的二次相互作用以及暗光子和核子之间的相互作用，超出了天体物理观测的界限。