  The generation and control of neutron orbital angular momentum (OAM) states
and spin correlated OAM (spin-orbit) states provides a powerful probe of
materials with unique penetrating abilities and magnetic sensitivity. We
describe techniques to prepare and characterize neutron spin-orbit states, and
provide a quantitative comparison to known procedures. The proposed detection
method directly measures the correlations of spin state and transverse
momentum, and overcomes the major challenges associated with neutrons, which
are low flux and small spatial coherence length. Our preparation techniques,
utilizing special geometries of magnetic fields, are based on coherent
averaging and spatial control methods borrowed from nuclear magnetic resonance.
The described procedures may be extended to other probes such as electrons and
electromagnetic waves.
