Bi-color atomic beam slower and magnetic field compensation for ultracold gases

Transversely loaded bidimensional-magneto-optical-traps (2D-MOTs) have been recently developed as high flux sources for cold strontium atoms to realize a new generation of compact experimental setups. Here, we discuss on the implementation of a cross-polarized bi-color slower for a strontium atomic beam, improving the 2D-MOT loading and increasing the number of atoms up to similar to 10(9) atoms in the 461 nm MOT. Our slowing scheme addresses simultaneously two excited Zeeman substates of the Sr-88 S-1(0)-> P-1(1) transition at 461 nm. We also realized a three-axis active feedback control of the magnetic field down to the microgauss regime. Such a compensation is performed thanks to a network of eight magnetic field probes arranged in a cuboid configuration around the atomic cold sample and a pair of coils in a quasi-Helmholtz configuration along each of three Cartesian directions. Our active feedback is capable of efficiently suppressing most of the magnetically induced position fluctuations of the 689 nm intercombination-line MOT.