Compact laser cooling apparatus for simultaneous cooling of lithium and rubidium

We report on a dual species laser cooling apparatus capable of collecting over 10(8) Rb-87 or Rb-85 atoms from an atomic vapor or up to (8+/-2) x 10(7) Li-6 atoms directly into a magneto-optic trap (MOT) from an effusive oven without the need for a Zeeman slower. The use of a miniature atomic oven placed close to the trapping region yields a compact vacuum system with a captured flux of more than 4 X 10(6) lithium atoms per second and a high quality vacuum in the 10(-10) Torr range. The atomic sources, laser system, and vacuum system are described. In addition, we use this system to study atom loss from the MOT due to interspecies collisions between Li-6 and Rb-85 or Rb-87. We report for the first time the heteronuclear loss coefficients for Li-6-Rb-85 mixtures. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America