Abstract
We propose and study a new class of superconducting detectors that are sensitive to electron recoils from dark matter–electron scattering. Such devices could detect dark matter as light as the warm dark-matter limit, . We compute the rate of dark-matter scattering off of free electrons in a (superconducting) metal, including the relevant Pauli blocking factors. We demonstrate that classes of dark matter consistent with terrestrial and cosmological or astrophysical constraints could be detected by such detectors with a moderate size exposure.
- Received 8 June 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.011301
© 2016 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Synopsis
Spotting Dark Matter with Supermaterials
Published 14 September 2016
Superconducting aluminum or superfluid helium could be used to detect superlight dark matter particles.
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