Direct observation of optical magnons in YBa2Cu3O6.2

D. Reznik, P. Bourges, H. F. Fong, L. P. Regnault, J. Bossy, C. Vettier, D. L. Milius, I. A. Aksay, B. Keimer
1996 Physical Review B (Condensed Matter)  
We have used high-energy inelastic neutron scattering to detect optical magnons directly in antiferromagnetic YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.2 . The optical magnon gap is 67Ϯ5 meV. This implies an intrabilayer superexchange constant perpendicular to the CuO 2 layers of J Ќ ϭ0.08J ʈ where J ʈ is the in-plane nearest-neighbor superexchange constant.
doi:10.1103/physrevb.53.r14741 pmid:9983344 fatcat:msb2sux44fc5rhbboe4shl2hoy