Magneto-optical trapping of cadmium

We report the laser cooling and confinement of Cd atoms in a magneto-optical trap and characterize the loading process from the background Cd vapor. The trapping laser drives the ¹S₀→¹P₁ transition at 2290.3em0exnm in this two-electron atom and also photoionizes atoms directly from the ¹P₁ state. This photoionization overwhelms the other loss mechanisms and allows a direct measurement of the photoionization cross section, which we measure to be 2(1)×10^-160.3em0excm² from the ¹P₁ state. When combined with nearby laser-cooled and trapped Cd⁺ ions, this apparatus could facilitate studies in ultracold interactions between atoms and ions.