Realization of a Cold Mixture of Fermionic Chromium and Lithium Atoms

We report on the production of a novel cold mixture of fermionic \(^{53}\)Cr and \(^{6}\)Li atoms delivered by two Zeeman-slowed atomic beams and collected within a magneto-optical trap (MOT). For lithium, we obtain clouds of up to \(4 \,10^8\) atoms at temperatures of about \(500\,\mu\)K. A gray optical molasses stage allows us to decrease the gas temperature down to \(45(5)\,\mu\)K. For chromium, we obtain MOTs comprising up to \(1.5\, 10^6\) atoms. The availability of magnetically trappable metastable \(D\)-states, from which \(P\)-state atoms can radiatively decay onto, enables to accumulate into the MOT quadrupole samples of up to \(10^7\) \(^{53}\)Cr atoms. After repumping \(D\)-state atoms back into the cooling cycle, a final cooling stage decreases the chromium temperature down to \(145(5)\,\mu\)K. While the presence of a lithium MOT decreases the lifetime of magnetically trapped \(^{53}\)Cr atoms, we obtain, within a 5 seconds duty cycle, samples of about \(4\, 10^6\) chromium and \(1.5\,10^8\) lithium atoms. Our work provides a crucial step towards the production of degenerate Cr-Li Fermi mixtures.