Directional Dark Matter Detection in Anisotropic Dirac Materials

TL;DR

This paper investigates how anisotropic Dirac materials like ZrTe$_5$ can be used to detect light dark matter through daily modulation signals caused by crystal anisotropy, offering a new method for dark matter detection.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of daily modulation in dark matter detection using anisotropic Dirac materials and quantifies the effect for ZrTe$_5$, highlighting the importance of crystal orientation.

Findings

Daily modulation can be an order-one fraction of the total scattering rate.

Modulation is maximized when the crystal aligns with the dark matter wind.

Changing crystal orientation can verify or rule out dark matter signals.

Abstract

Dirac materials, because of their small ${\cal O}(\mbox{meV})$ band gap, are a promising target for dark photon-mediated scattering and absorption of light dark matter. In this paper, we characterize the daily modulation rate of dark matter interacting with a Dirac material due to anisotropies in their crystal structure. We show that daily modulation is an ${\cal O}(1)$ fraction of the total rate for dark matter scattering in the Dirac material ZrTe$_5$. When present, the modulation is dominated by the orientation of the material's dielectric tensor with respect to the dark matter wind, and is maximized when the crystal is oriented such that the dark matter wind is completely aligned with the largest and smallest components of the dielectric tensor at two different times of the day. Because of the large modulation, any putative dark matter scattering signal could be rapidly verified or ruled out by changing the orientation of the crystal with respect to the wind and observing how the daily modulation pattern changes.