Towards a quantum degenerate gas of $^{48}$Ti

Titanium is fundamentally different from all the elemental atomic gases brought to quantum degeneracy to-date. Titanium’s lowest energy electronic configuration [Ar] $3d^2 4s^2$ yields a ground level $a^3F_2$ that is characterized by non-zero orbital angular momentum yet a magnetic moment equivalent to that of the alkali-atoms. Hence, titanium’s tensor polarizability supports anisotropic atom-light interactions, which can be implemented in a quantum degenerate gas that is free from the strong long-range dipolar interactions observed in systems of lanthanides. While a closed transition does not exist out of the ground state, a metastable state, $a^5F_5$ at 6843 cm$^{-1}$ with electronic configuration [Ar] $3d^3 4s$, has a spin-allowed transition to an excited energy level $y^5G^0_6$ ([Ar] $3d^3 4p$) at 498.1713 nm. Existing spectroscopic data support the feasibility of laser-cooling and magneto-optical trapping (MOT); this transition is both closed and broad ($\Gamma= 2\pi\times 10.51$ MHz). We discuss the cooling and trapping scheme already underway: a spin-flip Zeeman slower followed by a MOT. We report on experimental progress towards a trapped, Doppler temperature gas of bosonic $^{48}$Ti, the most abundant isotope, and future plans to achieve quantum degeneracy.