Unlocking the Secrets of Dark Matter With Graphene
ECE/COS Associate Professor Kin Chung Fong was awarded a $950,000 grant from the Department of Energy for “WIdeband graphene-based aXion dARk matter quantum Detector (WIXARD).” Fong will explore using astrophysics to gain insights into dark matter.
Abstract:
The WIXARD (WIdeband graphene-based aXion dARk matter quantum Detector) project aims to develop a novel graphene-based single-photon detector to enhance the search for quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axions, a candidate for dark matter, across a wide frequency range (100 GHz to 10 THz). Unlike narrowband experiments like ADMX, which use resonators to amplify signals, broadband detectors such as MADMAX, BREAD, and BRASS improve search efficiency by expanding the detection volume. WIXARD will enable unprecedented single-photon sensitivity, low dark count rates, and high quantum efficiency, significantly accelerating axion searches.
The proposed detector leverages graphene’s unique electronic and thermal properties—wideband photon absorption, small thermal conductance, and strong thermal response—to function as an ultra-sensitive single-photon calorimeter. By integrating monolayer graphene into a Josephson junction quantum sensor, WIXARD has already demonstrated an energy resolution of ~30 GHz and aims to operate at ~800 GHz in proof-of-concept experiments. Its sensitivity will potentially surpass traditional bolometers and reduce the time needed in the search of dark matter axion from decades to days.