Collective Magnetic Excitations in SrCu_2(BO_3)_2

Abstract

We study low temperature Raman data on phononic and magnetic excitations in SrCu_2(BO_3)_2. Regarding the former, in the 0 to 350 cm-1 range we find several pairs of quasi-degenerate modes which have different symmetries. Group theoretical analysis suggests that the existence of these modes is related to quite different atomic vibrational pattern, i.e. in-plane and c-axis. Collective magnetic excitations are studied in terms of symmetry, resonance and coupling mechanisms in zero and applied magnetic fields. The analysis of a 4-spin cluster allows us to understand the group symmetries of the zero field Brillouin zone center spin gap branches around 24 cm-1 confirming the picture of local elementary one-triplet modes. By considering an additional intra-dimer DM interaction we are also able to understand the observed selection rules and intensity variations of the spin gap branches in external magnetic fields applied parallel or perpendicular to the dimer planes. We identified two effective magnetic light scattering Hamiltonians responsible for the coupling to the magnetic modes which allowed us to explain their resonance behavior.