High Energy-Resolution Inelastic Neutron Scattering Experiments on Triplet Bound State Excitations in SrCu₂(BO₃)₂

Abstract

In this letter we report on the high energy-resolution neutron scattering studies on the dynamic structure factor of the two-triplet bound states in the two-dimensional S=1⁄2 Shastry–Sutherland system, SrCu₂(BO₃)₂, in the energy transfer range of 4 to 7 meV. In contrast to the earlier interpretation of the low energy-resolution results, these bound state excitations show hardly any dispersion, but do show a strong wave-vector-dependent structure factor. Although these findings are in overall agreement with the recent theoretical calculation of the 2-triplon dynamic structure factor by Knetter and Uhrig [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 (2004) 027204], they also show distinct differences, which may be due to some symmetry-breaking terms in the Hamiltonian that are not included in the theory, such as the interdimer Dzyaloshinski–Moriya interactions recently discovered in this compound.