Scaling laws in velocity-selective coherent-population-trapping laser cooling

One-dimensional laser cooling based on velocity-selective coherent population trapping (VSCPT) has been investigated numerically through the solution of the optical Bloch equations and through a Monte Carlo analysis. The 1→1 and 2→2 transitions have been examined as a function of the atomic recoil frequency, the spontaneous-emission decay rate, and the Rabi frequency of the cooling laser. It has been found that for a large set of those parameters, the VSCPT cooling process may be described through scaling-law relations. The scaling laws are not valid at long atom-laser interaction times or large Rabi frequencies, where the atomic Doppler shift plays a significant role in the atomic motion evolution. Similar results for two atomic transitions suggest the validity of the scaling law for any one-dimensional VSCPT process. © 1996 The American Physical Society.