Integrated optics for astronomical interferometry IV. First measurements of stars

We present in this paper the astronomical validation of a new approach to interferometric starlight com- bination. Using integrated optics technologies developed by the telecommunication industry, we have implemented optical circuits on coin-size chips that combine two beams and provide simultaneous photometric calibration sig- nals. We report the rst interferometric observations of stars using such beam combiners at the Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IOTA). This result opens the way to a new generation of miniaturized, high performance, and reliable instruments, dedicated to interferometric aperture synthesis.