Progress towards a Lutetium-ion optical clock

Recently singly ionized Lutetium has been proposed as a promising ion-clock candidate. It has multiple potential clock transitions from the $^1$S$_0$ ground state to the low-lying meta-stable $D$ states. In particular, it is a potential candidate for realizing multi-ion clock proposals requiring clock transitions with negative differential scalar polarizability. We report recent experimental progress with $^{176}$Lu$^{+}$. The low natural abundance $^{176}$Lu isotope has been isolated by laser photo-ionization and can be now be loaded and cooled without a sympathetic cooling agent. Laser spectroscopy has been performed to measure the frequencies of the allowed dipole transitions and clock transitions relevant for clock operation. In addition, the hyperfine structure of the $^3$P$_1$, $^3D_1$, and $^3D_2$ states has been measured. Progress towards implementation of the hyperfine averaging clock protocol and direct measurement of the differential scalar polarizability of the $^1$S$_0$ to $^3$D$_1$ transition will be presented.