Simulation of dark matter-induced damage track formation in a direction dark matter detector based on quantum defects in diamond

Current Weakly-Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) detection methods will soon be limited by irreducible background noise from solar neutrino scattering. Solid-state detectors enhanced with quantum sensing capabilities could systematically reduce this background signal by capturing directional information from crystal damage cascades caused by WIMP or neutrino impacts. Accurate simulation of these damage tracks are essential to optimize detector design and determine requisite quantum sensing capabilities. As part of a broader effort to develop a quantum diamond-based WIMP detector, we present simulations of damage track formation caused by WIMP-induced nuclear recoils in the diamond lattice structure, employing both Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics methods. Combined with simulations of annealing dynamics, these results can also guide the analysis of artificial particle track formation in single-ion implanted diamonds using nanometer scale imaging techniques, providing insights for predicting future detector reach and performance.