Laser cooling of trapped multilevel ions is studied numerically. The ions are assumed to be localized to spatial dimensions smaller than the optical wavelength ͑Lamb-Dicke regime͒. A master equation for the center-of-mass motion is used to numerically evaluate cooling rates and final temperatures for arbitrary light field configurations. The results show both well-known cooling mechanisms ͑Doppler cooling, sideband cool-ing͒ and effects introduced by the presence of multiple atomic levels. Quantitative results are given for a trapped Ba ϩ ion. The numerical procedure can easily be adapted for all ions used in today's trapping experiments.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.