Progress towards large, dense samples of laser-cooled molecules

The extension of laser cooling and trapping techniques to molecules promises access to new research directions from quantum simulation to improved precision measurements. To date, inefficient trap loading has been a key barrier preventing the production of large, dense samples of ultracold molecules using molecular magneto-optical traps (MOTs). Our experiment aims to remove this barrier by producing brighter beams of cold molecules and by working with species with closed electronic shells in $^{\mathrm{1}}\Sigma ^{\mathrm{+}}$ ground states. These molecules have favorable properties for laser cooling including a lack of spin-rotation structure and the presence of strong optical transitions for efficient trap loading. We will present an update on experimental progress including the conditions required to produce quasi-continuous beams of cold and slow molecules, a background-free fluorescence imaging scheme and a new laser system projected to produce \textasciitilde 1 W at 261.5 nm.