COOLING ATOMS WITH STIMULATED EMISSION.

Summary form only given, as follows. A new type of laser cooling mainly based on stimulated emission, which can be much more efficient than the usual laser cooling, i. e. , the so-called radiation pressure optical molasses, has been observed. This cooling occurs in a strong laser standing wave, detuned blue with respect to the atomic resonance. The force exerted on the atom results from a coherent redistribution of photons between the two running waves forming the standing wave. The cooling process can also be seen in the dressed atom picture as a microscopic realization of the Sisyphus myth: the atoms in this diagram see more uphill parts than downhill parts. A Monte Carlo simulation of the process has also been performed, which suggests the possibilities for using such a scheme to canalize the atoms at the nodes of the standing wave.