Search for boosted dark matter with high-Z material in underground experiments

Abstract: We propose to search for a boosted dark matter (DM) particle from astrophysical sources using an emulsion detector in deep underground facilities. We further propose using high-$Z$ material such as the lead for a larger DM-nucleus coherent scattering cross section above a threshold. The boosted DM will scatter into an excited DM. While the nuclear recoil energy is not detected, the decay products from the excited DM can be recorded by the proposed detector. Backgrounds such as the high energy solar neutrinos can be controlled by the reconstructed track topology. The proposed detector has the potential to find a boosted DM in the sub-GeV mass region, and in certain parameter space, an observation can be made while there is no sensitivity in other large-volume detectors such as Super-K.