Study of Spin-Gap Formation in Quasi-Two-DimensionalS=1/2System CaV4O9: Neutron Scattering and NMR

Abstract
Neutron inelastic scattering study has been performed on aligned single crystals of quasi-two-dimensional spin-gap system CaV 4 O 9 . By analyzing the dispersion curves and the structure factor of the triplet excitation, a physical picture of the present spin system has been constructed: The plaquette singlet units of four S =1/2 V-atoms within four “corner-linked” VO 5 pyramids form the two-dimensional linkage of the spins by the interactions between the V-spins within the “edge-linked” VO 5 pyramids. We have remeasured the NMR relaxation rates and obtained the spin-gap behavior consistent with the neutron results.