Simultaneous magneto-optical trapping of bosonic and fermionic chromium atoms

Abstract

We report on magneto-optical trapping of fermionic $^{53}\mathrm{Cr}$ atoms. A Zeeman-slowed atomic beam provides loading rates up to $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{6}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. We present systematic characterization of the magneto-optical trap (MOT). We obtain up to $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{5}$ atoms in the steady-state MOT. The atoms radiatively decay from the excited $P$ state into metastable $D$ states, and, due to the large dipolar magnetic moment of chromium atoms in these states, they can remain magnetically trapped in the quadrupole field gradient of the MOT. We study the accumulation of metastable $^{53}\mathrm{Cr}$ atoms in this magnetic trap. We also report on the simultaneous magneto-optical trapping of bosonic $^{52}\mathrm{Cr}$ and fermionic $^{53}\mathrm{Cr}$ atoms. Finally, we characterize the light-assisted collision losses in this Bose-Fermi cold mixture.