Progress towards an electron EDM measurement using trapped hafnium fluoride ions

Trapped molecular ions are an ideal platform for precision measurement of the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM). The low lying $^3\Delta_1$ electronic state of HfF$^+$ is predicted to contribute a large sensitivity enhancement to an eEDM measurement. We create HfF$^+$ by optically exciting a supersonic beam of HfF with two photons to an autoionizing state. We then load the HfF$^+$ into a novel Paul trap optimized for fluorescence collection and field uniformity. We report on recent experiments in the trap, and on our general progress towards the eEDM measurement. This work is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Marsico Endowed Chair.