Abstract

We describe a new mechanism for the laser cooling of atoms. The mechanism is based on the damping of the motion of three-level atoms by laser light pressure under the condition of coherent atomic population trapping. Because of the action of this mechanism, three-level atoms can be cooled below the temperature of the single-photon classical limit, T_γ = ℏγ/k_B, to a temperature corresponding to the recoil energy, T_R = ℏ²k²/2Mk_B. It is probable that the mechanism described has a part in the recently observed laser cooling of sodium atoms below the temperature ℏγ/ k_B.

© 1989 Optical Society of America

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