COOLING AND TRAPPING OF 3-LEVEL ATOMS IN A BICHROMATIC STANDING-WAVE

We show that a three-level atom in the cascade configuration can be st ably trapped and cooled in one dimension by an intense bichromatic sta nding wave. At the two-photon resonance, rectified dipole forces resul t in a deep potential well which can be used to localize the atoms in space. In the vicinity of the rectified potential minimum, the spatial dependence of the dressed state energies can lead to a velocity depen dence of the force which produces damping of the atomic motion. Consid eration of the heating effects of momentum diffusion indicates that co oling and stable trapping at low temperatures is possible in such a bi chromatic field.