Large atom number dual-species magneto-optical trap for fermionic 6Li and 40K atoms

We present the design, implementation and characterization of a dual-species magneto-optical trap (MOT) for fermionic Li and K atoms with large atom numbers. The MOT simultaneously contains 5.2 × 10 Li-atoms and 8.0 × 10 K-atoms, which are continuously loaded by a Zeeman slower for Li and a 2D-MOT for K. The atom sources induce capture rates of 1.2 × 10 Li-atoms/s and 1.4 × 10 K-atoms/s. Trap losses due to light-induced interspecies collisions of ∼65% were observed and could be minimized to ∼10% by using low magnetic field gradients and low light powers in the repumping light of both atomic species. The described system represents the starting point for the production of a large-atom number quantum degenerate Fermi-Fermi mixture.