Narrow-line magneto-optical trap for dysprosium atoms

We present our technique to create a magneto-optical trap (MOT) for dysprosium atoms using the narrow-line cooling transition at 626 nm to achieve suitable conditions for direct loading into an optical dipole trap. The MOT is loaded from an atomic beam via a Zeeman slower using the strongest atomic transition at 421 nm. With this combination of two cooling transitions we can trap up to 2.0 . 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. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America