Optimising Re-entrant Cavity Designs for Low Mass Axion Haloscopes
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866910003153076224 |
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| author | Singh, Raj Aryan Taylor, Paige Rose Hartmann, Elrina Brooks, Geoffrey McAllister, Ben T. |
| author_facet | Singh, Raj Aryan Taylor, Paige Rose Hartmann, Elrina Brooks, Geoffrey McAllister, Ben T. |
| contents | Axion haloscopes provide a leading experimental approach to detecting QCD axion dark matter through resonant axion-photon conversion in microwave cavities. Extending haloscope sensitivity to low axion masses remains challenging due to the large resonator volumes required at sub-GHz frequencies. Re-entrant cavities offer a compact solution, but their performance depends strongly on geometric optimisation. We present a comprehensive finite-element study of re-entrant cavity haloscope designs operating in the 100 to 500 MHz range, comparing their performance using effective scan time as a figure of merit. Among the configurations studied, we identify a double attack geometry that achieves a roughly threefold improvement in effective scan time compared to a conventional single-rod re-entrant cavity. We further investigate practical implementation strategies, including a hybrid design employing one fixed rod and one tunable rod, which preserves a scan time gain while reducing mechanical complexity. These results demonstrate a pathway to enhanced low-mass axion haloscope sensitivity. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_20151 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Optimising Re-entrant Cavity Designs for Low Mass Axion Haloscopes Singh, Raj Aryan Taylor, Paige Rose Hartmann, Elrina Brooks, Geoffrey McAllister, Ben T. Instrumentation and Detectors Axion haloscopes provide a leading experimental approach to detecting QCD axion dark matter through resonant axion-photon conversion in microwave cavities. Extending haloscope sensitivity to low axion masses remains challenging due to the large resonator volumes required at sub-GHz frequencies. Re-entrant cavities offer a compact solution, but their performance depends strongly on geometric optimisation. We present a comprehensive finite-element study of re-entrant cavity haloscope designs operating in the 100 to 500 MHz range, comparing their performance using effective scan time as a figure of merit. Among the configurations studied, we identify a double attack geometry that achieves a roughly threefold improvement in effective scan time compared to a conventional single-rod re-entrant cavity. We further investigate practical implementation strategies, including a hybrid design employing one fixed rod and one tunable rod, which preserves a scan time gain while reducing mechanical complexity. These results demonstrate a pathway to enhanced low-mass axion haloscope sensitivity. |
| title | Optimising Re-entrant Cavity Designs for Low Mass Axion Haloscopes |
| topic | Instrumentation and Detectors |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.20151 |