Progress on the JILA Generation III eEDM Experiment

The new generation (Gen. III) apparatus for the measurement of the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) at JILA utilizes ThF⁺, rather than HfF⁺, because: (i) the eEDM sensitive state of ThF⁺ promises a longer coherence time (~ 20 seconds) [1,2,3], and (ii) its 50% larger effective electric field increases eEDM sensitivity [4,5].  The new experimental apparatus consists of a "conveyor belt” of 100 consecutive ion traps, named the Bucket Brigade, which will continuously load and read out ThF⁺, allowing for an increased duty cycle without compromising long interrogation times [3]. We are currently constructing a small-scale prototype. Here, we present our experimental designs of the prototype to produce the highly uniform electromagnetic fields required to observe the 20-second coherence time. We also present our current designs for ion translation and ion detection of the photodissociated products for the Gen. III eEDM experiment at JILA.

[1] Gresh, Daniel N., et al. Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy 319 (2016): 1-9.

[2] Zhou, Yan et al. J. Mol. Spec. 358, (2019) 1-16

[3] Ng, Kia Boon et al. arXiv:2202.01346

[4] Skripnikov, L. V., and A. V. Titov. Physical Review A 91.4 (2015): 042504.

[5] Denis, Malika et al. New J. Phys. 17 043005.