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Spiral tuning of wire-metamaterial cavity for a plasma haloscope

Jacob Lindahl1, Rustam Balafendiev2,3, Gagandeep Kaur1, Gaganpreet Singh1, Andrea Gallo Rosso1, Jan Conrad1, Jon E. Gudmundsson2,1, and Junu Jeong1,*

  • 1The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
  • 2Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavik, Iceland
  • 3School of Physics and Engineering, ITMO University, Kronverksky Pr. 49, 197101 St. Petersburg, Russia

  • *Contact author: jun-woo.jeoung@fysik.su.se
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Phys. Rev. Applied 25, 024073 – Published 24 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/n1hb-9d3p

Abstract

Axions are hypothetical particles that provide a compelling solution to two major mysteries in modern physics: the strong CP problem and the nature of dark matter. The plasma haloscope has been proposed as a promising approach for probing the higher-mass regime for dark-matter axions by employing a periodic arrangement of conducting wires. In this work, we introduce an alternative tuning mechanism for such wire-based structures by arranging the wires into a spiral configuration. This design enables continuous frequency tuning of 25% with a single central rotation while maintaining the form factor. It also achieves scanning speeds several times faster than traditional tuning approaches, primarily due to the circular perimeter geometry, making it well suited for solenoidal magnet bores. To validate the concept, we fabricated a prototype cavity with six spiral arms and experimentally demonstrated its feasibility, obtaining frequency tuning in close agreement with numerical simulations.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 25, 024073– Published 24 February, 2026
  • Received 11 September 2025
  • Revised 23 November 2025
  • Accepted 28 January 2026
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