Towards a simple apparatus to realize a magneto optical trap of atomic Ti

Previous work suggests several transition metals can be laser cooled out of a metastable excited state. We propose a simple method for loading a 3D magneto optical trap of Ti from a Ti-Sublimation pump fliment with optical pumping to populate the metastable state. Ti is a refractory metal with low vapor pressures at temperatures below 1300C. Nonetheless, a resistively heated TiMo filament, commonly used in Ti-Sublimation pumps will emit a large flux of gas-phase Ti. We expect 3D MOT loading rates of up to ~1e12 atoms/sec and MOT lifetimes of ~100ms due to leakage into dark states. We report studies of optical pumping of Ti into the laser coolable metastable state and progress towards loading these atoms into a 3D MOT.