An atom interferometer using a Bose-Einstein condensate of 87 Rb atoms is utilized for the measurement of magnetic field gradients. Composite optical pulses are used to construct a spatiallysymmetric Mach-Zehnder geometry. Using a biased interferometer we demonstrate the ability to measure small residual forces in our system and discriminate between magnetic and intertial effects.. These are a residual ambient magnetic field gradient of 15±2 mG/cm and an inertial acceleration of 0.08±0.02 m/s 2 . Our method has important applications in the calibration of precision measurement devices and the reduction of systematic errors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.