Dark matter is a cosmological issue, which motivates the search for unobserved massive particles. One theoretically proposed candidates for dark matter is the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion, with the expected mass in the range of 25 µeV (6 GHz)–20 meV (5 THz). Despite experimental efforts, sufficient sensitivity has been reached mainly below 1 GHz due to the lack of sensitive detectors for higher frequencies [Semertzidis et all., 2022]. The prime objective of this project is to develop and optimize microwave detectors for axion research and to integrate the devices into ongoing experiments. So far, axions have not been observed and achieving such a milestone would be a major advancement to the scientific community providing answers both to the mystery of dark matter and the strong CP problem of particle physics. Confirming the lack of a signal with a highly sensitive detector is also a substantial scientific outcome for setting constraints on dark matter models.

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