Toward a Next-Generation Measurement of the Electron Electric Dipole Moment

Over the past decades, measurements of the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM, de) have emerged as a powerful probe of physics beyond the Standard Model. The current best limit, |de| < 4.1×10−30 e·cm, set by the JILA EDM experiment, improves upon the previous ACME II result by a factor of two. This thesis presents the progress and developments of the ACME III experiment, which aims to further improve the sensitivity to de by an additional order of magnitude. Such an improvement will enable probes of new physics at the 10 TeV scale and beyond using a tabletop experiment. To achieve this target sensitivity, several major upgrades have been implemented in ACME III. These include engineering efforts to increase the molecular flux, extend the spin precession time, and improve the readout efficiency. In parallel, new engineering controls have been developed to mitigate known sources of systematic error. This thesis describes these upgrades in detail and documents the progress made toward understanding and controlling systematic effects.