  We consider a two-level atom interacting with a single mode of the
electromagnetic field in a cavity within the Jaynes-Cummings model. Initially,
the atom is thermal while the cavity is in a coherent state. The atom interacts
with the cavity field for a fixed time. After removing the atom from the cavity
and applying a laser pulse the atom will be in a thermal state again. Depending
on the interaction time with the cavity field the final temperature can be
varied over a large range. We discuss how this method can be used to cool the
internal degrees of freedom of atoms and create heat baths suitable for
studying thermodynamics at the nanoscale.
