Upgrading the Radium-EDM Experiment through Improved Electric Field Reversibility and Calibration of the Isotope Harvesting Efficiency from FRIB

An experimentally observed non-zero atomic EDM (electric dipole moment) would be a signature of CP-violation (charge-parity), and, at present levels of sensitivity, also a sign of physics Beyond the Standard Model. The Radium-EDM experiment at Argonne National Laboratory searches for the atomic EDM of Radium-225 utilizing laser cooling and trapping techniques. This isotope has an octupole deformation (pear-shaped) of its nucleus, giving it a large nuclear Schiff moment, and consequently an enhanced atomic EDM. Our previous search had an EDM sensitivity of 10^-23 e*cm. Two key upgrades involve improvements to our electric field apparatus and the formation of a hot atomic beam of atoms harvested from the water beam dump at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). We will describe our ongoing studies to improve the reversibility of the electric field and to calibrate the efficiency of isotope harvesting from FRIB. The target new physics sensitivity for our next measurement run is comparable to that of the present Hg-199 atomic EDM limit, which currently sets the best limits on new CP-violating sources within the hadronic sector.