Quantifying the role of thermal motion in free-space light-atom interaction

We demonstrate 17.7(1)% extinction of a weak coherent field by a single atom. We observe a shift of the resonance frequency and a decrease in interaction strength with the external field when the atom, initially at $21\left(1\right)\mu \mathrm{K}$, is heated by the recoil of the scattered photons. Comparing to a simple model, we conclude that the initial temperature reduces the interaction strength by less than 10%.