Fig. 2: Experimental setup.

Atoms from a ⁸⁷Rb BEC (red) are coherently out-coupled from a dipole trap (maroon) to form an atom laser. The atoms are accelerated downward by the combined action of gravity and an external magnetic gradient. The accelerated flow encounters a potential created by an additional laser (blue). In this depiction, the potential is repulsive to the atoms. The flow profile is imaged by a CCD camera using absorption imaging.