Cooling atoms in an optical trap by selective parametric excitation

We demonstrate the possibility of energy-selective removal of cold atoms from a tight optical trap by means of parametric excitation of the trap vibrational modes. Taking advantage of the anharmonicity of the trap potential, we selectively remove the most energetic trapped atoms or excite those at the bottom of the trap by tuning the parametric modulation frequency. This process, which had been previously identified as a possible source of heating, also appears to be a robust way for forcing evaporative cooling in anharmonic traps.