Observation of the “head-tail” effect in nuclear recoils of low-energy neutrons

The current experimental techniques may be inadequate to provide unambiguous positive signals as the limits on direct searches for dark matter improve. Thus, convincing evidence for dark matter particles may be possible only by detecting the direction of the incoming particles in the presence of background. We present in this article an experimental method to determine the direction and sense (’headtail’) of dark matter wind by measuring the direction of the elastic nuclear recoils in the scattering of dark matter particles with the detector material. We measure the direction and sense of the nuclear recoils created by the scattering of low-energy neutrons with CF4 in a low-pressure time-projection chamber as a demonstration. The decreasing stopping power along the recoil trajectory allows us to detect the sense and direction of the incoming neutrons, and proves that the “head-tail” effect can be measured.