UPLOAD-HELIX: High-Helicity Single-Mode Microwave Haloscope with Low-Noise Interferometric Readout for Ultralight Axion Dark Matter

Abstract

We propose a superconducting single-mode microwave haloscope based on chiral cavity resonators for the detection of ultralight dark matter axions over the mass range $4\times10^{-19}$-$~4\times10^{-14}\,\mathrm{eV}$. Building on the single-mode chiral-cavity concept introduced by Bourhill et al. [Phys. Rev. D 108, 052014 (2023); arXiv:2208.01640], we develop a resonator geometry compatible with subtractive manufacturing from high-purity bulk niobium, taking advantage of the substantially lower surface resistance achievable relative to the additively manufactured M\"obius cavity proposed in the earlier work. An inverse-design framework is then used to maximise a figure of merit derived to minimise the measurement time required to achieve a fixed experimental sensitivity. The resulting optimised bulk-niobium design achieves a figure of merit more than three orders of magnitude larger than the additively manufactured Mo\"bius benchmark. An experimentally informed microwave interferometric readout model, incorporating measured electronics noise and active suppression of pump amplitude noise, is used to project the sensitivity of the proposed experiment. For an acquisition time of three months, the haloscope is projected to reach $g_{a\gamma\gamma}<10^{-11}\,\mathrm{GeV}^{-1}$ across more than four orders of magnitude in axion mass. The projected sensitivity extends approximately one order of magnitude below the current exclusion limits set by CAST, providing a practical pathway towards a high-sensitivity direct search for ultralight dark matter axions.