Magnetic trapping of metastable ³P₂ atomic strontium

We report the magnetic trapping of metastable ³P₂ atomic strontium. Atoms are cooled in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating on the dipole-allowed ¹S₀-¹P₁ transition at 461 nm. Decay via ¹P₁⃗¹D₂⃗³P₂ continuously loads a magnetic trap formed by the quadrupole magnetic field of the MOT. Over 10⁸ atoms at a density of 8×10⁹cm^-3 and temperature of 1 mK are trapped. The atom temperature is significantly lower than what would be expected from the kinetic and potential energies of atoms as they are transferred from the MOT. This suggests the occurrence of thermalization and evaporative cooling in the magnetic trap.