Dynamics of laser cooling of atoms below the recoil temperature
Mazets I. E., Matisov B. G.
A new analytic description is offered for the laser cooling of atoms below the recoil temperature by the method of velocity-selective coherent population trapping. This description is based on a solution of the quantum kinetic equation over the entire range of atomic momenta. In the particular case in which the low rate (Γ12) of the relaxation of the low-frequency atomic coherence is ignored, confirmation is found for analytic results derived in the Levi-Gnedenko statistical theory. The cooling efficiency falls off as Г3/4 at times ί^Γ^1. © 1994 American Institute of Physics.