Graphene-based detectors for directional dark matter detection

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel graphene-based detector for directional dark matter detection, leveraging 2D materials to achieve high sensitivity, nanometer resolution, and background discrimination, advancing dark matter search technology.

Contribution

It introduces a new detector design using graphene heterostructures with scalable, high-resolution, and low-threshold capabilities for directional dark matter detection.

Findings

Design demonstrates keV-scale detection threshold

Achieves nanometer position resolution

Sensitive to dark matter masses down to 10 GeV/c^2

Abstract

Dark matter detectors with directional sensitivity have the capability to distinguish dark matter induced nuclear recoils from isotropic backgrounds, thus providing a smoking gun signature for dark matter in the Galactic halo. Motivated by recent progress in graphene and two-dimensional materials research, we propose a novel class of directional dark matter detectors utilizing graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures. A conceptual design of the detector based on graphene/hexagonal boron nitride and graphene/molybdenum disulfide heterostructures is developed and analyzed. The proposed detector has modular scalability, keV-scale detection threshold, nanometer position resolution, sensitivity down to 10 $\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$ dark matter mass, and intrinsic head-tail discrimination and background rejection capabilities.