Applications of an 88Y/Be photoneutron calibration source to dark matter and neutrino experiments.

The low-energy monochromatic neutron emission from an (88)Y/Be source can be exploited to mimic the few keV(nr) nuclear recoils expected from low-mass weakly interacting massive particles and coherent scattering of neutrinos off nuclei. Using this source, a </~10% quenching factor is measured for sodium recoils below 24 keV(nr) in NaI[Tl]. This is considerably smaller than the 30% typically adopted in the interpretation of the DAMA/LIBRA dark matter experiment, resulting in a marked increase of its tension with other searches, under the standard set of phenomenological assumptions. The method is illustrated for other target materials (superheated and noble liquids).