Bulk magnetic measurements and inelastic neutron scattering were used to
investigate the spin-singlet ground state and magnetic gap excitations in
BaCuSi2O6, a quasi-2-dimensional antiferromagnet with a bilayer structure. The
results are well described by a model based on weakly interacting
antiferromagnetic dimers. A strongly temperature-dependent dispersion in the
gap modes was found. We suggest that the observed excitations are analogous to
magneto-excitons in light rare-earth compounds, but are an intrinsic property
of a simple Heisenberg Hamiltonian for the S=1/2 magnetic bilayer.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX and PS for text, PS for figures direct
download: http://papillon.phy.bnl.gov/preprints/bacusio.htm