First High-Throughput Evaluation of Dark Matter Detector Materials
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: We perform the first high-throughput search and evaluation of materials that can serve as excellent low-mass dark matter detectors. Using properties of close to 1000 materials from the Materials Project database, we project the sensitivity in dark matter parameter space for experiments constructed from each material, including both absorption and scattering processes between dark matter and electrons. Using the anisotropic materials in the dataset, we further compute the level of daily modulation in interaction rates and the resulting directional sensitivities, highlighting materials with prospects to detect the dark matter wind. Our methods provide the basic tools for the data-driven design of dark matter detectors, and our findings lay the groundwork for the next generation of highly optimized direct searches for dark matter as light as the keV scale. This represents a major step in the application of results from condensed matter physics to dark matter search design.
Source: Physical Review Letters
DOI: 10.1103/bb4g-7939
Authors: Sinéad M. Griffin, Yonit Hochberg, Benjamin V. Lehmann, Rotem Ovadia, Kristin A. Persson, Bethany A. Suter, Ruo Xi Yang, Wayne Zhao
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,750
Funders: Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, European Commission, United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, Israel Science Foundation, Office of Science, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, European Research Council, Basic Energy Sciences, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Awards: G1286236842, G1286251239, G1473225657, G1785510616, G1863003419, G2058441107, G2079588038, G2150285389, G2179389304, G2618837358, G30714459, G3083819904, G3203529914, G4137688313, G419881185, G4255765125, G42916606, G4501827968, G498139845, G5169111516, G526230902, G5532997229, G5684581112, G650090426, G6582974258, G663179388, G6652958823, Collaborative Research: Adaptive and nonadaptive mechanisms of phenotypic evolution in response to urbanization, G841748990, G969889393
OpenAlex ID: W6891820525