We propose a new experimental technique to generate and detect axions in the
lab with a good experimental sensitivity over a broad axion mass range. The
scheme relies on using laser-based four-wave mixing, which is mediated by the
hypothetical axion field. Intense pump and Stokes laser beams that are confined
to a waveguide (i.e., for example, an optical fiber) with appropriately chosen
frequencies resonantly drive axion generation. Under such a geometry, we
predict the existence of guided axion waves, which we refer to as "axitons".
These are solutions of the axion Klein-Gordon field equation that are spatially
guided by the profiles of the driving pump and Stokes laser beams. These guided
axitons can then couple to a nearby fiber and mix with another laser, affecting
the propagation of a probe laser beam. A key advantage of the scheme is that
the mass range of the hypothetical axion can be scanned by varying the
frequencies of the pump and the Stokes laser beams. We predict that, using
reasonable parameters, the technique will be able to detect axions in the mass
range 10β6eV <m<10β2eV with a sensitivity at the level of
10β12 GeVβ1 for the axion-photon coupling constant