  A well-motivated class of dark matter candidates, including axions and dark
photons, takes the form of coherent oscillations of a light bosonic field. If
the dark matter couples to Standard Model states, it may be possible to detect
it via absorptions in a laboratory target. Current experiments of this kind
include cavity-based resonators that convert bosonic dark matter to
electromagnetic fields, operating at microwave frequencies. We propose a new
class of detectors at higher frequencies, from the infrared through the
ultraviolet, based on the dielectric haloscope concept. In periodic photonic
materials, bosonic dark matter can efficiently convert to detectable single
photons. With feasible experimental techniques, these detectors can probe
significant new parameter space for axion and dark photon dark matter in the
0.1-10 eV mass range.
