Anharmonic decay and the propagation of phonons in an isotopically pure crystal at low temperatures: Application to dark-matter detection

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.47.727· OSTI ID:6887694

Maris, H J ^[1]; Tamura, S ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912 (United States)
2. Department of Engineering Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060 (Japan)

We consider the propagation and anharmonic decay of high-energy phonons introduced into a perfect dielectric crystal at low temperatures. The phonon-decay rate is calculated for an fcc model with central forces between nearest neighbors. We give an approximate relation between the parameters entering into this model and the experimentally known properties of real crystals. A discussion is given of the range of wave vectors over which slow transverse phonons are stable against anharmonic decay. These results are relevant to the design of experiments to detect dark matter via the study of the phonons excited in a crystal when a dark-matter particle scatters off a nucleus. We discuss the primary phonon production mechanism and the possibility that there is an anisotropy of the phonon flux that is related to the direction in which the nucleus recoils.

• DOE Contract Number: FG02-86ER45267
• OSTI ID: 6887694
• Journal Information: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States), Journal Name: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States) Vol. 47:2; ISSN 0163-1829; ISSN PRBMDO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

665000* -- Physics of Condensed Matter-- (1992-)
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
AMPLITUDES
CRYSTAL LATTICES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
CRYSTALS
CUBIC LATTICES
DECAY
DECAY AMPLITUDES
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
FCC LATTICES
MATERIALS
PHONONS
QUASI PARTICLES
TRANSITION AMPLITUDES