Second-generation Sr₂ Molecular Clock

The internal degrees of freedom, insensitivity to external fields, and narrow optical transitions of Sr₂ molecules make it a strong candidate for a molecular clock and precision measurement of short-range interatomic forces. In order to increase our clock precision, we are addressing several technical challenges, such as the lifetime of the molecules that is limited by lattice light scattering. We are constructing a second-generation Sr₂ platform, leveraging an in-vacuum build-up cavity, a vertical lattice, and a higher-flux source to achieve longer coherence times and higher precision.We will discuss the ongoing characterization of this setup.