We present results of an experiment to probe for the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the electron using an $\Omega$-doublet state in a polar molecule. If the molecule is both massive and has a large molecular-fixed frame dipole moment, then the $\Omega$-doublet states have the potential to greatly increase the sensitivity of experiments searching for the EDM while also allowing for new methods of systematic error rejection. Here, we use the metastable $a{\left(1\right)}^3{\Sigma }^{+}$ state of lead monoxide (PbO) to probe for the electron EDM. Our best fit for the electron EDM of $d_e=(-4.4\pm 9.5_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm 1.8_{\mathrm{syst}})\times {10}^{-27}e\mathrm{cm}$ allows us to place an upper limit on the magnitude of the EDM of $|d_e|<1.7\times {10}^{-26}e\mathrm{cm}$ (90$\%$ confidence). While this is less stringent than limits from other, previous experiments, our work emphasizes the systematic error rejection properties associated with the $\Omega$-doublet level structure. The results should inform the work of other, ongoing experiments that use molecules with analogous level structure.

• Received 12 March 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.87.052130