title: Atom interferometer based on phase coherent splitting of Bose-Einstein condensates with an integrated magnetic grating.
abstract: We report the phase coherent splitting of Bose-Einstein condensates by means of a phase grating produced near the surface of a microelectronic chip. A lattice potential with a period of 4 mum is generated by the superposition of static and oscillating magnetic fields. Precise control of the diffraction is achieved by controlling the currents in the integrated conductors. The interference of overlapping diffraction orders is observed after 8 ms of propagation in a harmonic trap and subsequent ballistic expansion of the atomic ensemble. By analyzing the interference pattern we show a reproducible phase relation between the diffraction orders with an uncertainty limited by the resolution of the diffraction grating.
authors.affiliation: Physikalisches Institut der Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fortágh