We have directly loaded a cryogenic beam of molybdenum atoms into a magneto-optical trap. By chirping the detuning of the trapping lasers, we were able to enhance the number of atoms loaded into the trap by more than a factor of 2. We optimize the trapped samples for atom number, temperature, and lifetime by varying the laser-cooling parameters. The laser-cooled molybdenum atoms are subsequently transferred to a magnetic trap where we achieve vacuum-limited lifetimes of 100 ms. Comparison of magneto-optical trap and magnetic trap lifetimes allow us to extract partial decay rates of the $z{}^7{P}_4^{\text{o}}\to a{}^5{D}_4$ and $z{}^7{P}_4^{\text{o}}\to a{}^5{D}_3$ transitions. We also provide measurements of the isotope shifts for the $a{}^7{S}_3\to z{}^7{P}_4^{\text{o}}$ transition with up to four times better precision than previously reported. Finally, we discuss the prospect of applying the chriped magneto-optical trap to produce laser-cooled samples of MgF.

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• Atom & ion cooling
• Cooling & trapping
• Atoms