Dysprosium magneto-optical traps

Magneto-optical traps (MOTs) of highly magnetic lanthanides open the door to explorations of novel phases of strongly correlated matter such as lattice supersolids and quantum liquid crystals. We recently reported the first MOTs of the five high abundance isotopes of the most magnetic atom, dysprosium. Described here are details of the experimental technique employed for repumper-free Dy MOTs containing up to half a billion atoms. Extensive characterization of the MOTs' properties---population, temperature, loading, metastable decay dynamics, trap dynamics---is provided.