  Pulsed laser ablation is an increasingly prevalent method for fast ion trap
loading of various species, however characteristics of the ablation target
source material can affect the ion-loading process. One factor which can reduce
the atomic flux from a target is oxidation during atmospheric exposure when
preparing or making changes to the ion trap vacuum system. Recent work has
shown that perovskite ablation targets produce consistent atomic densities even
after exposure to atmosphere when compared to elemental source targets. In this
work, we directly compare calcium (Ca) and calcium-titanate (CaTiO$_3$)
ablation targets, characterizing the neutral atomic beam flux using resonant,
time-resolved absorption spectroscopy of the 423 nm $^{1}S_0 \rightarrow$
$^{1}P_1$ transition in neutral Ca. We measure the ablation plume longitudinal
and transverse temperatures, number density, ion production, and spot lifetime
for each target. In addition, we compare the ablated atomic beam density for
both targets before and after 21 hours of exposure to atmosphere, demonstrating
the relative robustness of the CaTiO$_3$ source.
