Magneto-optical Trapping of Silver Atoms Towards Ultracold ²²³FrAg Molecules to Probe Nuclear CP-violation

Silver (Ag), due to its large electron affinity, forms highly polar molecules when paired with alkali atoms. Silver also has an alkali-like atomic structure, allowing for the application of standard techniques of laser-cooling and trapping and opening a path to assembling alkali-silver dimers. Binding Ag with francium (Fr, the heaviest alkali) to form FrAg molecules has great potential as a tool to search for physics beyond the Standard Model. In ²²³FrAg, the interaction between electrons and the ²²³Fr nuclear Schiff moment induces an observable CP-violating energy shift that is greatly enhanced due to both the strongly ionic Fr-Ag bond and the static octupole deformation of the radioactive ²²³Fr (t_1/2 = 22 min) nucleus. However, certain properties of silver, such as a high melting point, ultraviolet s-p transitions, low polarizability, and poorly resolved p_3/2 hyperfine structure present challenges for laser cooling and trapping. In this talk, we present results on magneto-optical trapping of ¹⁰⁹Ag atoms, as well as progress towards 1- and 2-photon photoassociation spectroscopy to determine the zero-field scattering length. This work will pave the way for realizing the first Bose-Einstein condensate of silver atoms. Progress on the development of an offline ²²³Fr source for a ²²³Fr MOT will also be discussed.