  The search for quantum coherence based on isolated atoms integrated with a
room temperature solid state device (so-called atomchip [1-3]) has been
intensifying in the last decade, with advances being made towards applications
such as clocks, quantum information processing, surface probing and
acceleration and gravitational field sensors. Such a device will also enable
(and to some extent has already enabled) novel experiments in fundamental
physics (e.g., [4-7]). Here we report on the trapping and maintenance of
spatial coherence of atoms (in a Bose-Einstein Condensate -- BEC) about 5$\mu$m
from a room temperature surface, reducing significantly the distance previously
achieved between the spatially coherent atoms and their classical environment
[8-12], and most importantly entering the regime where atomic circuits are
enabled. In addition, we enter the interesting regime in which the distance to
the surface is much smaller than the probed coherence length, a regime in which
the spatial dephasing reaches its maximal rate.
