Speaker
Description
We present the operating principle and the first results of a novel direct detector for axions and axion-like particles that is sensitive to the polarisation axis rotation of a linearly polarised laser field induced by an axion field. During its first observing run, LIDA reached a competitive sensitivity of up to 1.5 x 10^(-10) GeV^(-1) around masses of 2 neV, which coincides with predictions from the cosmic infrared background. We discuss future plans to increase the sensitivity, especially by broadening the measurement band significantly towards lower axion masses of 10^(-16) to 10^(-10) eV and by implementing a squeezed light source. Finally, we present the proposal to transform the gravitational-wave detector and technology testbed GEO600 in Germany into a kilometre-scale upgrade of LIDA which could even surpass the most stringent constraints of astrophysical observations between axion masses of 10^(-16) and 10^(-8) eV.
