We propose a new method for detecting high frequency gravitational waves (GWs) using high energy pulsed lasers. Through the inverse Gertsenshtein effect, the interaction between a GW and the laser beam results in the creation of an electromagnetic signal. The latter can be detected using single-photon counting techniques. We compute the minimal strain of a detectable GW which only depends on the laser parameters. We find that a resonance occurs in this process when the frequency of the GW is twice the frequency of the laser. With this method, the frequency range $10^{13}-10^{19} $ Hz is explored non-continuously for strains $h \gtrsim 10^{-20}$ for current laser systems and can be extended to $h \gtrsim 10^{-26}$ with future generation facilities.

We propose a new method for detecting high frequency gravitational waves (GWs) using high energy pulsed lasers. Through the inverse Gertsenshtein effect, the interaction between a GW and the laser beam results in the creation of an electromagnetic signal. The latter can be detected using single-photon counting techniques. We compute the minimal strain of a detectable GW which only depends on the laser parameters. We find that a resonance occurs in this process when the frequency of the GW is twice the frequency of the laser. With this method, the frequency range 10 12 −10 19 Hz is explored for strains h 10 −20 for current laser systems and can be extended to h 10 −27 with future generation facilities.