Resolved-sideband Raman cooling of a bound atom to the 3D zero-point energy

We report laser cooling of a single {sup 9}Be{sup +} ion held in a rf (Paul) ion trap to where it occupies the quantum-mechanical ground state of motion. With the use of resolved-sideband stimulated Raman cooling, the zero point of motion is achieved 98% of the time in 1D and 92% of the time in 3D. Cooling to the zero-point energy appears to be a crucial prerequisite for future experiments such as the realization of simple quantum logic gates applicable to quantum computation. {copyright} {ital 1995} {ital The} {ital American} {ital Physical} {ital Society}.