Axion detection through resonant photon-photon collisions

We investigate the prospect of an alternative laboratory-based search for the coupling of axions and axionlike particles to photons. Here, the collision of two laser beams resonantly produces axions, and a signal photon is detected after magnetic reconversion, as in light-shining-through-walls (LSW) experiments. Conventional searches, such as LSW or anomalous birefringence measurements, are most sensitive to axion masses for which substantial coherence can be achieved; this is usually well below optical energies. We find that using currently available high-power laser facilities, the bounds that can be achieved by our approach outperform traditional LSW at axion masses between 0.5–6 eV, set by the optical laser frequencies and collision angle. These bounds can be further improved through coherent scattering off laser substructures, probing axion-photon couplings down to g_aγγ ∼ 10⁻⁸ GeV⁻¹, comparable with existing CAST bounds. Assuming a day long measurement per angular step, the QCD axion band can be reached.