| We present an experiment which aims at coupling a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) to a nanomechanical beam resonator on an atom chip. We investigate a magnetic coupling scheme in which the magnetic moment of the BEC is coupled to the resonator motion via a ferromagnetic island which is located on the beam resonator. The BEC is held in a magnetic trap on the chip and serves as a highly sensitive probe for the resonator motion. In this way, resonator oscillation amplitudes of a few picometers can be detected by observing transitions between hyperfine states of the BEC. Applications of a coherent coupling between the resonator and the internal states of the BEC are discussed. The progress of our experiment towards the realization of this atom-nanoresonator coupling scheme is reported. |
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