Geoneutrinos in large direct detection experiments

Abstract

Geoneutrinos can provide a unique insight into Earth's interior, its central engine, and its formation history. We study the detection of geoneutrinos in large direct detection experiments, which has been considered nonfeasible. We compute the geoneutrino-induced electron and nuclear recoil spectra in different materials, under several optimistic assumptions. We identify germanium as the most promising target element due to the low nuclear recoil energy threshold that could be achieved. The minimum exposure required for detection would be O(10) ton-years. The realistic low thresholds achievable in germanium and silicon permit the detection of K40 geoneutrinos. These are particularly important to determining Earth's formation history, but they are below the kinematic threshold of inverse beta decay, the detection process used in scintillator-based experiments.