Related papers: Germanium response to sub-keV nuclear recoils: a m…
The scattering of dark matter (DM) particles with sub-GeV masses off nuclei is difficult to detect using liquid xenon-based DM search instruments because the energy transfer during nuclear recoils is smaller than the typical detector…
Direct searches for low mass dark matter particles via scattering off target nuclei require detection of recoiling atoms with energies of ~1 keV or less. The amount of electronic excitation produced by such atoms is quenched relative to a…
Nuclear recoil measurements with high-purity Germanium detectors are very promising to directly detect dark matter candidates. The main background sources in such experiments are natural radioactivity and microphonic noise. Digital pulse…
Dark matter (DM) particles with mass in the sub-GeV range are an attractive alternative to heavier weakly-interacting massive particles, but direct detection of such light particles is challenging. If however DM-nucleus scattering leads to…
A new experimental evaluation of the quenching factor for nuclear recoils in NaI[Tl] is described. Systematics affecting previous measurements are addressed by careful characterization of the emission spectrum of the neutron source, use of…
We report a measurement of the ionization efficiency of silicon nuclei recoiling with sub-keV kinetic energy in the bulk silicon of a charge-coupled device (CCD). Nuclear recoils are produced by low-energy neutrons ($<$24 keV) from a…
We analyzed the response of NaI(Tl) to low energy nuclear recoils in the experiment that is reported on here. Such detectors have been used recently to search for evidence of dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles…
Diverse searches for direct dark matter (DM) in effective electromagnetic and leptophilic interactions resulting from new physics, as well as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with unconventional electronic recoils, are…
The Migdal effect predicts that a nuclear recoil interaction can be accompanied by atomic ionization, allowing many dark matter direct detection experiments to gain sensitivity to sub-GeV masses. We report the first direct search for the…
We report a new method of using the plasma time difference, which results from the plasma effect, between the nuclear and electronic recoil events in high-purity germanium detectors to distinguish these two types of events in the search for…
The emission of $\gamma$-rays after a neutron capture in a cryogenic detector can generate mono-energetic nuclear recoils in the sub-keV regime, of direct interest for the calibration of Dark Matter and Coherent Elastic Neutrino Nucleus…
Detection of low-energy nuclear recoil events plays a central role in searches for particle dark matter interactions with atomic matter and studies of coherent neutrino scatters. Precise nuclear recoil calibration data allow the responses…
The potential of the GENIUS proposal to measure the spectrum of low energy solar neutrinos in real time is studied. The detection reaction is elastic neutrino-electron scattering. The energy resolution for detecting the recoil electrons is…
Elastic scattering off nuclei in target detectors, involving interactions with dark matter and coherent elastic neutrino nuclear recoil (CE$\nu$NS), results in the deposition of low energy within the nuclei, dissipating rapidly through a…
Nuclear reactors represent a promising neutrino source for CE$\nu$NS (coherent-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering) searches. However, reactor sites also come with high ambient neutron flux. Neutron capture-induced nuclear recoils can…
The scintillation properties of liquid helium upon the recoil of a low energy helium atom are discussed in the context of the possible use of this medium as a detector of dark matter. It is found that the prompt scintillation yield in the…
Low-threshold dark matter detectors, in particular cryogenic detectors based on dielectric materials, are among the best tools for probing sub-GeV dark matter masses. In the coming years detectors of this type will become sensitive to solar…
Nuclear recoil ionization yield constitutes a critical uncertainty source in low-energy detection for dark matter (DM) and coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS) experiments. We present a novel methodology employing…
We point out that a non-relativistic $\sim 2 $ GeV dark matter (DM) which interacts with visible matter through higher dimensional Rayleigh operators could explain the excess of "electron recoil" events recently observed by the Xenon1T…
We present initial results on nuclear recoil detection based on the fluorescence of color centers created by nuclear recoils in lithium fluoride. We use gamma rays, fast and thermal neutrons, and study the difference in responses they…