Polarization gradient cooling of single atoms in optical dipole traps

Yue-Sum Chin, Matthias Steiner, Christian Kurtsiefer

We experimentally investigate ${\sigma }^{+}$-${\sigma }^{-}$ polarization gradient cooling~(PGC) of a single ${}^{87}$Rb atom in a tightly focused dipole trap and show that the cooling limit strongly d…