Laser cooling of Ho atoms for collective encoding of a quantum register*

Ho atoms have 128 hyperfine ground states (the most of any stable atomic isotope) which may be used to collectively encode a large quantum register. We present progress towards laser cooling of Ho atoms using the $|4f^{11}6s^2, J=15/2\rangle \rightarrow |4f^{11}6s6p, J=17/2 \rangle$ transition at 410.5 nm. The design for a long lifetime optical trap using near 400 nm light will also be discussed.