Towards magneto-optical trapping of AlF molecules

Aluminum monofluoride (AlF) is a promising candidate to produce a dense, ultracold gas through laser cooling. We present our recent progress towards implementing a Zeeman slower for the molecules, transverse and rotational cooling, and magento-optical trapping of AlF molecules. We also present a thorough characterisation of a MOT of Cd atoms using the ¹P₁ ← ¹S₀ transition near 229 nm. Cd is an excellent species to test our MOT apparatus as it shares many properties with the more complex case of AlF.