Raman scattering in a two-layer antiferromagnet.

Two-magnon Raman scattering is a useful tool to verify recent suggestions concerning the value of the interplanar exchange constant in antiferromagnetic two-layer systems, such as YBa2Cu3O61x . We present a theory for Raman scattering in a two-layer antiferromagnet. We study the spectra for the electronic and magnetic excitations across the charge transfer gap within the one-band Hubbard model and derive the matrix elements for the Raman scattering cross section in a diagrammatic formalism. We analyze the effect of the interlayer exchange coupling J2 for the Raman spectra in A1g and B1g scattering geometries both in the nonresonant regime ~when the Loudon-Fleury model is valid! and at resonance. We show that within the Loudon-Fleury approximation, a nonzero J2 gives rise to a finite signal in A1g scattering geometry. Both in this approximation and at resonance the intensity in the A1g channel has a peak at small transferred frequency equal to twice the gap in the spin-wave spectrum. We compare our results with experiments in YBa2Cu3O6.1 and Sr2CuO2Cl2 compounds and argue that the large value of J2 suggested in a number of recent studies is incompatible with Raman experiments in A1g geometry. @S0163-1829~96!06126-7#