Velocity-dependent dark matter interactions in single-electron resolution semiconductor detectors with directional sensitivity

We investigate the velocity and recoil momentum dependence of dark matter interactions with ordinary matter. In particular we focus on the single-electron resolution semiconductor detectors, which allow experimental assessment of sub-GeV dark matter masses. We find that, within a specific mass range depending on the detector material, the dark matter interactions result in a signal characterized by daily modulation. Furthermore, we find that the detailed structure of this modulation is sensitive to the velocity and momentum dependence of dark matter interactions. We identify the optimal mass range for the prevalence of these effects.Peer reviewe

Identification of the low-energy excess in dark matter searches with crystal defects

An excess of events of unknown origin at low energies below 1 keV has been observed in multiple low -threshold dark matter detectors. Understanding the origin of these events is of utmost importance, as this unidentified event rate currently overwhelms any potential new physics signal. Depending on the target material, nuclear recoil events at these energies may cause lattice defects, in which case a part of the true recoil energy is stored in the defect and not observed in the phonon detector. If the threshold for defect creation is sharp, this effect leads to a prominent feature in the observed recoil spectrum. Electronic recoils at low energies do not create defects and therefore the feature in the observed spectrum is not expected in that case. We propose to use the sharp defect creation threshold of diamond to test if the low-energy events are due to nuclear recoils. Based on simulated data we expect the nuclear recoil peak in the observed spectrum to be visible in diamond with a data set of similar to 700 events, potentially achievable with similar to 0.1 gram days of exposure.Peer reviewe

Energy loss due to defect creation in solid state detectors

The threshold displacement energy in solid state detector materials varies from several eV to ~100 eV. If a stable or long lived defect is created as a result of a nuclear recoil event, some part of the recoil energy is stored in the deformed lattice and is therefore not observable in a phonon detector. Thus, an accurate model of this effect is necessary for precise calibration of the recoil energy measurement in low threshold phonon detectors. Furthermore, the sharpness of the defect creation threshold varies between materials. For a hard material such as diamond, the sharp threshold will cause a sudden onset of the energy loss effect, resulting in a prominent peak in the observed recoil spectrum just below the threshold displacement energy. We describe how this effect can be used to discriminate between nuclear and electron recoils using just the measured recoil spectrum.Comment: Proceedings for Excess22@IDM worksho

Defect Creation in Crystals : A Portal to Directional Dark Matter Searches

A large body of astrophysical observations indicate that around 85% of the matter in the universe is not made of recognized standard model particles. Understanding the nature of this so-called dark matter is of fundamental importance to cosmology, astrophysics, and high-energy particle physics. We examine the response of commonly used semiconductor materials to low-mass WIMP interactions using numerical simulations based on classical interatomic potentials in these materials. These simulations, backed up by more precise density functional theory simulations and experiments, predict a nonlinear energy loss that never produces phonons due to the nonzero energy required to form crystallographic defects. We argue that such nonlinear effects related to defect formation in electron-volt-scale resolution semiconductor detectors allows for very effective directional sensitivity and possible statistical nuclear recoil discrimination to dark matter signals for masses below 1 GeV/c(2).Peer reviewe

Anisotropic ionization threshold and directional sensitivity in solid state DM detectors

The threshold displacement energy for nuclear recoils depends strongly on the direction of the recoiling nucleus with respect to the crystal lattice. Assuming that similar dependence holds for the ionization threshold for low energy nuclear recoils, we explore the consequences of the resulting directional dependence of the observable event rate in ionization detectors. For low mass dark matter, this effect leads to a daily modulation in the event rate. We discuss how this effect can be utilized to separate the DM signal from the solar neutrino background and how the structure of the modulation signal can be used to identify the type of the DM-nucleon coupling.Comment: Proceedings for the IDM 2022 conferenc

Directional Sensitivity in Light-Mass Dark Matter Searches with Single-Electron-Resolution Ionization Detectors

We propose a method using solid state detectors with directional sensitivity to dark matter interactions to detect low-mass weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) originating from galactic sources. In spite of a large body of literature for high-mass WIMP detectors with directional sensitivity, no available technique exists to cover WIMPs in the mass range <1 GeV/c(2). We argue that single-electron-resolution semiconductor detectors allow for directional sensitivity once properly calibrated. We examine the commonly used semiconductor material response to these low-mass WIMP interactions.Peer reviewe

Energy loss in low energy nuclear recoils in dark matter detector materials

Recent progress in phonon-mediated detectors with eV-scale nuclear recoil energy sensitivity requires an understanding of the effect of the crystalline defects on the energy spectrum expected from dark matter or neutrino coherent scattering. We perform molecular dynamics simulations to determine the amount of energy stored in the lattice defects as a function of the recoil direction and energy. This energy cannot be observed in the phonon measurement, thus affecting the observed energy spectrum compared to the underlying true recoil energy spectrum. We describe this effect for multiple commonly used detector materials and demonstrate how the predicted energy spectrum from dark matter scattering is modified.Peer reviewe