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We report on a technique to split an atomic beam coherently with an easily adjustable splitting angle. In our experiment metastable helium atoms in the ͉͕1s2s͖ 3 S 1 M =1͘ state diffract from a polarization gradient light field formed by counterpropagating + and − polarized laser beams in the presence of a homogeneous magnetic field. In the near-adiabatic regime, energy conservation allows the resonant exchange between magnetic energy and kinetic energy. As a consequence, symmetric diffraction of ͉M =0͘ or ͉M =−1͘ atoms in a single order is achieved, where the order can be chosen freely by tuning the magnetic field. We present experimental results up to sixth-order diffraction ͑24បk momentum splitting, i.e., 2.21 m/s in transverse velocity͒ and present a simple theoretical model that stresses the similarity with conventional Bragg scattering. The resulting device constitutes a flexible, adjustable, large-angle, three-way coherent atomic beam splitter with many potential applications in atom optics and atom interferometry.

DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement:

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