SPICE Workshop on Quantum Functionalities of Nanomagnets, June 17th - 19th 2025
Takis Kontos
Axions are hypothetical particles which do not belong to the standard model and are considered as good candidates to explain the dark matter in the Universe. As first proposed by P. Sikivie in 1983, it may be possible to detect them using a microwave cavity under a large magnetic field. Such a device is called a haloscope. I will describe a new type of haloscope which we have recently developed. It combines a superconducting quantum circuit, a magnetic crystal in addition to the microwave cavity. It aims to detect the axion signal by measuring a phase shift of the microwave signal using quantum sensing techniques. Furthermore, the magnetic crystal provides a tunability by magnon-photon coupling, enabling in principle a large mass scanning range. I will present both the concept and the first experimental results of our haloscope.