We present results of a practical demonstration of recoil direction sensitivity in a superfluid helium particle detector. In the experiment, alpha particles with an energy of 3.3 MeV generate an anisofcropic distribution of rotons and an isotropic distribution of uv photons as they are stopped in the liquid. By detecting the number and spacial distribution of photons and rotons, one has the possibility of extracting information about the energy and direction of recoiling helium atoms. It remains to be seen whether the scintillation or the anisotropic roton distribution are preserved at low enough energies to be useful for dark matter detection.
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