A Second-Generation Cosmic Axion Experiment

An experiment is described to detect dark matter axions trapped in the halo of our galaxy. Galactic axions are converted into microwave photons via the Primakoff effect in a static background field provided by a superconducting magnet. The photons are collected in a high Q microwave cavity and detected by a low noise receiver. The axion mass range accessible by this experiment is 1.3 - 13 mu eV. The expected sensitivity will be rougly 50 times greater than achieved by previous experiments in this mass range. The assembly of the detector is well under way at LLNL and data taking will start in mid-1995.