Axion Signal Search Using Hybrid Nuclear-Electronic Spin Systems

Abstract

Conventional nuclear magnetic resonance searches for the galactic axion wind lose sensitivity at low frequencies due to the unfavourable scaling of inductive readout. Here, we propose a hybrid architecture where the hyperfine interaction transduces axion-driven nuclear precession into a high-bandwidth electron-spin readout channel. We demonstrate analytically that this dispersive upconversion preserves the specific sidereal and annual modulation signatures required to distinguish dark matter signals from instrumental backgrounds. When instantiated in a silicon ${ }^{209} \text{Bi}$ donor platform, the hybrid sensor is projected to outperform direct nuclear detection by more than an order of magnitude over the $10^{-16}-10^{-6} \text{eV}$ wide mass range. With collective enhancement, the design reaches a $5 \sigma$ sensitivity to DFSZ axion-nucleon couplings within one year, establishing hyperfine-mediated sensing as a competitive path for compact, solid-state dark matter searches.