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 {sup 1}S{sub 0}{yields}{sup 1}P{sub 1} transition at 229 nm in this two-electron atom and also photoionizes atoms directly from the {sup 1}P{sub 1} 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)x10{sup -16} cm{sup 2} from the {sup 1}P{sub 1} state. When combined with nearby laser-cooled and trapped Cd{sup +} ions, this apparatus could facilitate studies in ultracold interactions between atoms and ions.