LASER COOLING OF TRAPPED ATOMS TO THE GROUND-STATE - A DARK STATE IN POSITION-SPACE

We propose a scheme that allows us to laser cool trapped atoms to the ground state of a one-dimensional confining potential. The scheme is b ased on the creation of a dark state by designing the laser profile, s o that the hottest atoms are coherently pumped to another internal lev el, and then repumped back. The scheme works beyond the Lamb-Dicke lim it. We present results of a full quantum treatment for a one-dimension al model.