Characterization of the HAYSTAC axion dark matter search cavity using microwave measurement and simulation techniques

Understand

Many searches for axion cold dark matter rely on the use of tunable electromagnetic resonators.

• Current detectors operate at or near microwave frequencies and use cylindrical cavities with cylindrical tuning rods.
• The cavity performance strongly impacts the signal power of the detector, which is expected to be very small even under optimal conditions.
• There is strong motivation to characterize these microwave cavities and improve their performance in order to maximize the achievable signal power.