We explore the stopping effect that results from interactions between dark matter and nuclei as the dark matter particles travel underground towards the detector. Although this effect is negligible for heavy dark matter particles, there is parameter phase space where the underground interactions of the dark matter particles with the nuclei can create observable differences in the spectrum. Dark matter particles that arrive on the detector from below can have less energy from the ones arriving from above. These differences can be potentially detectable by upcoming directional detectors. This can unveil a large amount of information regarding the type and strength of interactions between nuclei and light dark matter candidates.

• Received 7 October 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.93.035023