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  • Open Access

Graphene-based super-light invisible matter particle search

Doojin Kim1,2,*, Jong-Chul Park3,†, Gil-Ho Lee4,‡, and Kin Chung Fong5,6,§

  • *Contact author: doojin.kim@usd.edu
  • †Contact author: jcpark@cnu.ac.kr
  • ‡Contact author: lghman@postech.ac.kr
  • §Contact author: k.fong@northeastern.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 015002 – Published 1 July, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1tyy-qfsc

Abstract

We propose a new dark-matter detection strategy that will potentially enable the search for super-light dark matter mχ≃0.1  keV, improving the minimum detectable mass by more than 3 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 superlight 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.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 015002– Published 1 July, 2025
  • Received 10 November 2023
  • Accepted 20 May 2025
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