  An all-optical scheme to polarize nuclear spins in a single quantum dot is
analyzed. The hyperfine interaction with randomly oriented nuclear spins
presents a fundamental limit for electron spin coherence in a quantum dot; by
cooling the nuclear spins, this decoherence mechanism could be suppressed. The
proposed scheme is inspired by laser cooling methods of atomic physics and
implements a "controlled Overhauser effect" in a zero-dimensional structure.
