TY - JOUR
T1 - Directional detection of dark matter with two-dimensional targets
AU - Hochberg, Yonit
AU - Kahn, Yonatan
AU - Lisanti, Mariangela
AU - Tully, Christopher George
AU - Zurek, Kathryn M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s)
PY - 2017/9/10
Y1 - 2017/9/10
N2 - We propose two-dimensional materials as targets for direct detection of dark matter. Using graphene as an example, we focus on the case where dark matter scattering deposits sufficient energy on a valence-band electron to eject it from the target. We show that the sensitivity of graphene to dark matter of MeV to GeV mass can be comparable, for similar exposure and background levels, to that of semiconductor targets such as silicon and germanium. Moreover, a two-dimensional target is an excellent directional detector, as the ejected electron retains information about the angular dependence of the incident dark matter particle. This proposal can be implemented by the PTOLEMY experiment, presenting for the first time an opportunity for directional detection of sub-GeV dark matter.
AB - We propose two-dimensional materials as targets for direct detection of dark matter. Using graphene as an example, we focus on the case where dark matter scattering deposits sufficient energy on a valence-band electron to eject it from the target. We show that the sensitivity of graphene to dark matter of MeV to GeV mass can be comparable, for similar exposure and background levels, to that of semiconductor targets such as silicon and germanium. Moreover, a two-dimensional target is an excellent directional detector, as the ejected electron retains information about the angular dependence of the incident dark matter particle. This proposal can be implemented by the PTOLEMY experiment, presenting for the first time an opportunity for directional detection of sub-GeV dark matter.
KW - Dark matter
KW - Direct detection
KW - Directional detection
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U2 - 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.06.051
DO - 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.06.051
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85026303694
SN - 0370-2693
VL - 772
SP - 239
EP - 246
JO - Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
JF - Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
ER -