  Axion-like particles lead to a plethora of new phenomena relating to compact
astrophysical objects including stellar and black hole superradiance, axion
stars and axion clusters. In this work, we investigate a new scenario in which
macroscopic axion configurations are sourced by the electromagnetic fields of
pulsars via the axion-photon coupling. We solve the inhomogeneous axion field
equation with an explicit source term given by the electromagnetic fields of
the pulsar in a rotating magnetic dipole approximation. We find that the axion
profile either forms a localised boundstate or radiates as outgoing waves,
depending on whether the pulsar frequency is smaller or greater than the axion
mass, respectively. We derive the total mass of the scalar cloud generated
around the pulsar, and the power loss for radiative solutions. We point out
that it will be necessary to incorporate pulsar magnetosphere effects and their
partial screening of the axion-photon interaction for a more accurate
quantitative prediction. Finally, we suggest some observational signatures
which should be investigated in future work.
