Enhanced Dark Matter Sensitivity using a Hybrid SiPM-SNSPD-Qubit Detector in Liquid Argon

TL;DR

This paper proposes advanced detector technologies combining optical readout enhancements and quantum sensors to significantly improve the sensitivity of dark matter detection at very low energies, enabling exploration of new parameter spaces.

Contribution

It introduces a novel NDC correction in liquid-argon detectors and a qubit-based detector architecture for ultra-low-energy depositions, pushing detection thresholds into the subKeV and meV regimes.

Findings

NDC correction amplifies low-energy nuclear recoil signals.

Qubit-based detector achieves near-unit efficiency at 30 meV energy deposits.

Projected sensitivity extends to dark matter masses below 0.01 MeV.

Abstract

We investigate novel strategies to extend the sensitivity of dark matter direct detection experiments to energy deposits well below the thresholds of conventional detectors. In liquid-argon time-projection chambers equipped with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), we show that improved optical readout, combined with a nuclear dielectric constant (NDC) correction to the WIMP nucleus interaction, enhances the response to low-momentum-transfer nuclear recoils. The NDC effectively amplifies the interaction strength at small recoil energies, increasing the expected ionization and scintillation yields without modifying the high-energy behavior constrained by calibration data. When coupled to SiPM based light collection, this mechanism lowers the effective detection threshold to the subKeV regime, significantly improving sensitivity to low-mass WIMPs and other weakly interacting particles. Complementarily, we present the design and projected performance of a qubit-based detector optimized for ultra-low-energy depositions. A novel two-chip architecture is employed to minimize signal dissipation, while quantum parity measurements enable enhanced single-phonon sensitivity. Full simulations of phonon propagation and quasiparticle dynamics demonstrate that energy deposits at the level of $\gtrsim 30 meV$ can be detected with nearly unit efficiency and high energy resolution. This capability is expected to advance sensitivity to dark-matter scattering for masses $m_\chi \gtrsim 0.01 MeV$ by several orders of magnitude for both light and heavy mediators, and to enable competitive searches for axion and dark-photon absorption in the $0.04 - 0.2 eV$ mass range.