The orbital angular momentum of neutrons has been measured and controlled for the first time by researchers in Canada and the US. The research opens up the possibility of using beams of "twisted" neutrons as a new probe of materials, and could also lead to applications in quantum-information science and new tests of the foundations of quantum mechanics.
The principle of wave–particle duality at the heart of quantum mechanics means that neutrons scattered from a sample will have a wave-like diffraction pattern that can be used to study the structural and magnetic properties of a wide range of materials. Furthermore, neutrons interact very differently with the constituent atoms of materials than do photons or electrons. This means that neutron scattering can often probe material properties that are inaccessible to electron beams or synchrotron light.
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