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Abstract

This thesis reports on the first steps towards an experimental setup capable of realizing an ultracold three-component Fermi gas in an optical lattice: the construction of an apparatus that captures and cools ⁶Li -atoms inside a magneto optical trap (MOT). The focus of this thesis was the implementation of the Zeeman slower, the laser system and hard- and software controlling the experiment. Since these provide the starting point for all future developments it was especially important to ensure that they do not limit future experiments. With a MOT loading rate of L ~ 3 x 10⁸ atoms/second at an oven temperature of 350 °C it is possible to capture enough atoms for further experiments in about one second allowing fast cycle times of the experiment. The achieved background pressure in the vacuum chamber, essential for the next experimental steps, is excellent as indicated by the background gas collision limited MOT lifetime of τ ~ 23 minutes. The next step will be to implement a dipole trap to further cool the ⁶Li -atoms.