Speaker
Description
Molecular crystals are apparently ideal candidates for the next generation of dark matter (DM) detectors. Their anisotropic responses to DM scattering allow the DM signal to be distinguished from the irreducible backgrounds, e.g. by searching for a sidereal daily modulation signal in a detector that rotates with the Earth (every 23.93 hours). Trans-stilbene ($C_{14}H_{12}$) is an excellent first example, with O(10%) daily modulation amplitudes. In this talk, I provide an update on the multi-gram-scale prototype experiment currently being assembled at Fermilab. I also present a simple, universal measure for quantifying the statistical power of a directionally sensitive counting experiment, to guide the search for target materials that are even more effective than trans-stilbene.