Diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate from a Magnetic Lattice on a Micro Chip

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental observation of Bose-Einstein condensate diffraction from a microfabricated magnetic lattice, demonstrating potential for integrated atom interferometry with high-order diffraction patterns.

Contribution

It introduces a novel magnetic lattice on a chip that enables diffraction of Bose-Einstein condensates, advancing integrated atom optics technology.

Findings

Diffraction observed up to 5th order.

Quantitative agreement with phase imprinting model.

Potential for integrated atom interferometers.

Abstract

We experimentally study the diffraction of a Bose-Einstein condensate from a magnetic lattice, realized by a set of 372 parallel gold conductors which are micro fabricated on a silicon substrate. The conductors generate a periodic potential for the atoms with a lattice constant of 4 microns. After exposing the condensate to the lattice for several milliseconds we observe diffraction up to 5th order by standard time of flight imaging techniques. The experimental data can be quantitatively interpreted with a simple phase imprinting model. The demonstrated diffraction grating offers promising perspectives for the construction of an integrated atom interferometer.