Spin structures of tetragonal lamellar copper oxides

The spin Hamiltonian of tetragonal lamellar antiferromagnets is shown to contain several novel anisotropies. Symmetry allows bond-dependent anisotropic exchange interactions, which lead to (a) interplane mean-field coupling and (b) an in-plane anisotropy which vanishes classically but arises from quantum zero point energy (QZPE). A similar QZPE involving the interplane isotropic interaction prefers collinear spins. Adding also diploar anisotropy, the competition between all these effects explains for the first time the spin structures of many cuprates.