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Title: Silicon carbide detectors for sub-GeV dark matter

Abstract

We propose the use of silicon carbide (SiC) for direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter. SiC has properties similar to both silicon and diamond but has two key advantages: (i) it is a polar semiconductor which allows sensitivity to a broader range of dark matter candidates; and (ii) it exists in many stable polymorphs with varying physical properties and hence has tunable sensitivity to various dark matter models. We show that SiC is an excellent target to search for electron, nuclear and phonon excitations from scattering of dark matter down to 10 keV in mass, as well as for absorption processes of dark matter down to 10 meV in mass. Combined with its widespread use as an alternative to silicon in other detector technologies and its availability compared to diamond, our results demonstrate that SiC holds much promise as a novel dark matter detector.

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); Israel Science Foundation (ISF); United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF); German Israel Foundation; Azrieli Foundation; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) and The Molecular Foundry (TMF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
OSTI Identifier:
1774674
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1682291; OSTI ID: 1798366; OSTI ID: 1830635
Report Number(s):
FERMILAB-PUB-20-469-AE; arXiv:2008.08560
Journal ID: ISSN 2470-0010; PRVDAQ; 075002
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0019195; AC02-07CH11359; AC02-76SF00515; AC02-05CH11231; KA2401032; 1112/17; 2016155; 1937/12; I-2487-303.7/ 2017; I-2487-303.7/2017
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review D
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Physical Review D Journal Volume: 103 Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2470-0010
Publisher:
American Physical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; 72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS

Citation Formats

Griffin, Sinéad M., Hochberg, Yonit, Inzani, Katherine, Kurinsky, Noah, Lin, Tongyan, and Yu, To Chin. Silicon carbide detectors for sub-GeV dark matter. United States: N. p., 2021. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.103.075002.
Griffin, Sinéad M., Hochberg, Yonit, Inzani, Katherine, Kurinsky, Noah, Lin, Tongyan, & Yu, To Chin. Silicon carbide detectors for sub-GeV dark matter. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.103.075002
Griffin, Sinéad M., Hochberg, Yonit, Inzani, Katherine, Kurinsky, Noah, Lin, Tongyan, and Yu, To Chin. Tue . "Silicon carbide detectors for sub-GeV dark matter". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.103.075002.
@article{osti_1774674,
title = {Silicon carbide detectors for sub-GeV dark matter},
author = {Griffin, Sinéad M. and Hochberg, Yonit and Inzani, Katherine and Kurinsky, Noah and Lin, Tongyan and Yu, To Chin},
abstractNote = {We propose the use of silicon carbide (SiC) for direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter. SiC has properties similar to both silicon and diamond but has two key advantages: (i) it is a polar semiconductor which allows sensitivity to a broader range of dark matter candidates; and (ii) it exists in many stable polymorphs with varying physical properties and hence has tunable sensitivity to various dark matter models. We show that SiC is an excellent target to search for electron, nuclear and phonon excitations from scattering of dark matter down to 10 keV in mass, as well as for absorption processes of dark matter down to 10 meV in mass. Combined with its widespread use as an alternative to silicon in other detector technologies and its availability compared to diamond, our results demonstrate that SiC holds much promise as a novel dark matter detector.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevD.103.075002},
journal = {Physical Review D},
number = 7,
volume = 103,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Apr 06 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Tue Apr 06 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}

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