MAGNETIC TRAPPING OF ATOMIC CHROMIUM

Ground-state Cr-52 atoms have been magnetically trapped using buffer-g as loading. The atoms are produced by laser ablation of solid Cr-52, t hermalized by collisions with a cryogenically cooled helium buffer gas , and trapped by an anti-Helmholtz quadrupole magnetic field. The atom s are detected by absorption spectroscopy on the a(7)S(3)<->z(7)P(3) t ransition at 427.6 nm. Using this technique, approximately 10(11) atom s are loaded into the trap in a single ablation pulse. Loading has bee n demonstrated at temperatures from 0.3 to 1.4 K.