Progress towards the second-generation atomic fountain clock at NIST

We present results on the performance of two important subsystems for NIST-F2 - the second-generation atomic fountain clock at NIST. Firstly, we demonstrate the efficient capture of cesium atoms from a low-velocity intense source (LVIS) of atoms into an optical molasses. Our typical LVIS flux was 10/sup 10/ s/sup -1/. The initial molasses fill rate was R/sub t=0/ = 3.8(5)/spl times/10/sup 9/ s/sup -1/, which is consistent with 100% atom capture given the lifetime of our vacuum system. Secondly, recent results for our launch performance in the (1,1,1) fountain geometry are presented. We were able to cool the atoms to a temperature of 1.5 /spl mu/K with our current design. Our plans for improving the laser cooling performance are also presented.