We present a two-species laser cooling apparatus capable of simultaneously collecting Rb and Hg atomic gases into a magneto-optical trap (MOT). The atomic sources, laser system, and vacuum set-up are described. While there is a loss of Rb atoms in the MOT due to photoionization by the Hg cooling laser, we show that it does not prevent simultaneous trapping of Rb and Hg. We also demonstrate interspecies collision-induced losses in the 87 Rb-202 Hg system. * Corresponding author: mwitkowski@uni.opole.pl 2

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We report the measurement of the photoionization cross sections of the 5S 1/2 and 5P 3/2 states of 87 Rb in a two-species Hg and Rb magneto-optical trap (MOT) by the cooling laser for Hg. The photoionization cross sections of Rb in the 5S 1/2 and 5P 3/2 states at 253.7 nm are determined to be 1 +4.3 −1 × 10 −20 cm 2 and 4.63(30) × 10 −18 cm 2 , respectively. To measure the 5S 1/2 and 5P 3/2 states fractions in the MOT we detected photoionization rate of the 5P 3/2 state by an additional 401.5 nm laser. The photoionization cross section of Rb in the 5P 3/2 state at 401.5 nm is determined to be 1.18(10) × 10 −17 cm 2 .