Loading a39K crossed optical dipole trap from a magneto-optical trap

In this work, we have applied sub-Doppler laser cooling to a 39 K magneto-optical trap in order to load a 1071 nm crossed optical dipole trap. The number of atoms loaded into the dipole trap was characterized as a function of the frequency and intensity of the cooling and repump laser beams. For the optimum conditions, the dipole trap has about 2 × 10 6 atoms at an atomic density of 2 × 10 12 cm −3 , with a temperature of about 10 µK. This technique is a very simple procedure to load a 39 K optical dipole trap without a previous magnetic evaporative cooling step and may find application in other atomic physic systems.