We propose an efficient mechanism for the evaporative cooling of trapped fermions directly into quantum degeneracy. Our idea is based on an electric field induced elastic interaction between trapped atoms in spin symmetric states. We discuss some novel general features of fermionic evaporative cooling and present numerical studies demonstrating the feasibility for the cooling of alkali-metal fermionic species ${}^6\mathrm{Li},$ ${}^{40}\mathrm{K},$ and ${}^{82,84,86}\mathrm{Rb}.$ We also discuss the sympathetic cooling of fermionic hyperfine spin mixtures, including the effects of anisotropic interactions.

• Received 22 February 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.61.013406