Narrow-line magneto-optical trap for dysprosium atoms

Abstract

We present our technique to create a magneto-optical trap for dysprosium atoms using the narrow-line cooling transition at 626nm to achieve suitable conditions for direct loading into an optical dipole trap. The magneto-optical trap is loaded from an atomic beam via a Zeeman slower using the strongest atomic transition at 421nm. With this combination of two cooling transitions we can trap up to $2.0\cdot 10^8$ atoms at temperatures down to 6$\mu$K. This cooling approach is simpler than present work with ultracold dysprosium and provides similar starting conditions for a transfer to an optical dipole trap.