A dense gas of cesium atoms at the crossover to two dimensions is prepared in a highly anisotropic surface trap that is realized with two evanescent light waves. Temperatures as low as 100 nK are reached with 20 000 atoms at a phase-space density close to 0.1. The lowest quantum state in the tightly confined direction is populated by more than $60\%$. The system provides atoms at a mean distance from the surface as low as $1\mu \mathrm{m}$, and offers intriguing prospects for future experiments on degenerate quantum gases in two dimensions.

• Received 16 August 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.173001