Chip-based atom interferometers bring together the advantages of atom chips and Bose-Einstein condensates. Their central prerequisite is that a condensate can be coherently split into two halves with a determined rela...Chip-based atom interferometers bring together the advantages of atom chips and Bose-Einstein condensates. Their central prerequisite is that a condensate can be coherently split into two halves with a determined relative phase. This paper demonstrates the dynamical splitting and merging of an atom cloud with two U-wires on an atom chip. Symmetrical and asymmetrical splittings are realized by applying a bias field with different directions and magnitudes. The trajectories of the splitting are consistent with theoretical calculations. The atom chip is a good candidate for constructing an atom interferometer.展开更多
基金Project supported by the State Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No 2006CB921202)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No 10334050)
文摘Chip-based atom interferometers bring together the advantages of atom chips and Bose-Einstein condensates. Their central prerequisite is that a condensate can be coherently split into two halves with a determined relative phase. This paper demonstrates the dynamical splitting and merging of an atom cloud with two U-wires on an atom chip. Symmetrical and asymmetrical splittings are realized by applying a bias field with different directions and magnitudes. The trajectories of the splitting are consistent with theoretical calculations. The atom chip is a good candidate for constructing an atom interferometer.