Abstract

Spin-orbit coupling of light has come to the fore in nanooptics and plasmonics, and is a key ingredient of topological photonics and chiral quantum optics. We demonstrate a basic tool for incorporating analogous effects into neutron optics: the generation and detection of neutron beams with coupled spin and orbital angular momentum. The He-3 neutron spin filters are used in conjunction with specifically oriented triangular coils to prepare neutron beams with lattices of spin-orbit correlations, as demonstrated by their spin-dependent intensity profiles. These correlations can be tailored to particular applications, such as neutron studies of topological materials.

Publication Details
Publication Type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2019
Volume
116
Number of Pages
20328-20332
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1906861116
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Contributors