  We describe a method for dark matter detection based on the evaporation of
helium atoms from a cold surface and their subsequent detection using field
ionization. When a dark matter particle scatters off a nucleus of the target
material, elementary excitations (phonons or rotons) are produced. Excitations
which have an energy greater than the binding energy of helium to the surface
can result in the evaporation of helium atoms. We propose to detect these atoms
by ionizing them in a strong electric field. Because the binding energy of
helium to surfaces can be below 1~meV, this detection scheme opens up new
possibilities for the detection of dark matter particles in a mass range down
to 1~MeV/c$^{2}$.
