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Electronic Layer Decoupling Driven by Density-Wave Order in La_{4}Ni_{3}O_{10}
Ziqiang Guan1, Sophia F R TenHuisen1,2, M Tepie1
1Harvard University, Department of Physics, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Abstract:
We probe the density-wave transition of the trilayer nickelate La_{4}Ni_{3}O_{10} with polarization-resolved infrared spectroscopy. The low-energy electrodynamics is strongly anisotropic, with metallic in-plane and insulating out-of-plane character. In the ordered phase, the anisotropy grows more than an order of magnitude as the out-of-plane conductivity is sharply suppressed. We interpret this enhancement as an effective electronic decoupling of the Ni-O layers driven by a spin-density-wave-induced redistribution of Ni-d_{z^{2}} occupation within the trilayers. This electronic response is accompanied by clearly shifting and splitting out-of-plane phonons, compatible with a density-wave instability of electronic origin.
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