GLIMPSE: Graphene-based super-Light Invisible Matter Particle SEarch
Abstract
We propose a new dark-matter detection strategy that will potentially enable the search for super-light dark matter m 0.1 keV, improving the minimum detectable mass by more than three orders of magnitude compared to ongoing experiments. This can be achieved by intimately integrating the target material, specifically the π-bond electrons in graphene, into a Josephson junction to create a highly sensitive detector capable of detecting energy deposits from dark matter as small as 0.1 meV. We investigate detection prospects of pg-, ng-, and μg-scale detectors by calculating the scattering rate between dark matter and free electrons confined in two-dimensional graphene, including Pauli-blocking factors and in-medium screening effects. We find that the proposed detector is expected to not only serve as a complementary probe of super-light dark matter but also achieve higher experimental sensitivities than other proposed experiments, assuming zero readout noise, thanks to the extremely low threshold energy of our graphene Josephson junction sensor.