We present a scheme for laser cooling and magneto-optical trapping of the group-IV (a.k.a. group-14 or tetrel) atoms silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn), and lead (Pb). These elements each possess a strong type-II transition $(J\to J^{\prime }=J-1)$ between the metastable $s^2{p}^2{}^3{P}_1$ state and the excited $s^{2}p{s}^{\prime }{}^3{P}_0^{\circ }$ state at an accessible laser wavelength, making them amenable to laser cooling and trapping. We focus on the application of this scheme to Sn, which has several features that make it attractive for precision measurement applications. We perform numerical simulations of atomic beam slowing, capture into a magneto-optical trap (MOT), and subsequent sub-Doppler cooling and compression in a blue-detuned MOT of Sn atoms. We also discuss a realistic experimental setup for realizing a high phase-space density sample of Sn atoms.

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• Atom & ion cooling
• Trapped atoms
• Ultracold gases
• Cooling & trapping
• Lindblad equation