LOW-INTENSITY LIMIT OF THE LASER COOLING OF A MULTISTATE ATOM

We adapt an earlier semiclassical theory of laser cooling of an arbitrary multistate atom [J. Javanainen, Phys. Rev. A 44, 5857 (1991)] to the limit of low light intensity. The formal theory is implemented analytically on a computer using MATHEMATICA. Expressions of light-pressure force and diffusion are provided for j1 = 1/2 --> j2 = 3/2 and j1 = 1 --> j2 = 2 atoms in a one-dimensional optical confinement area in which the pair of counterpropagating waves has orthogonal polarizations. In our models the cooling temperature decreases as the level degeneracy increases.