On Coherence in Bragg-Primakoff Axion Photoconversion

TL;DR

This paper refines the theoretical understanding of axion detection via Bragg-Primakoff scattering in crystals, accounting for absorption effects and the Borrmann effect, and evaluates the implications for current and future dark matter experiments.

Contribution

It provides an updated theoretical model of axion photoconversion in crystals, including absorption effects and the Borrmann effect, to improve detection sensitivity estimates.

Findings

Absorption of photons can significantly suppress detection rates.

The Borrmann effect can mitigate absorption-induced suppression.

Projected sensitivities of experiments like SuperCDMS, LEGEND, and SABRE are analyzed.

Abstract

Axions and axion-like pseudoscalar particles with dimension-5 couplings to photons exhibit coherent Bragg-Primakoff scattering with ordered crystals at keV energy scales. This provides for a natural detection technique in searches for axions produce in the Sun's interior. I will motivate the utility of dark matter direct detection experiments in searching for solar axions, emphasizing the role crystal-based detector technologies. I present an updated theoretical treatment of the Bragg-Primakoff photoconversion process for keV pseudoscalars, and address simultaneously the effects of absorption of final state photons in crystals on the loss of coherence, which can lead to large suppressive corrections to the event rate sensitivity for this detection technique. However, I also show that the Borrmann effect of anomalous absorption significantly lifts the suppression. This phenomenon is studied in Ge, NaI, and CsI crystal experiments and its impact on the the projected sensitivities of SuperCDMS, LEGEND, and SABRE to the solar axion parameter space. Lastly, I investigate the future reach of multi-ton scale crystal detectors and discuss strategies to maximize the discovery potential of experimental efforts in this vein.