We probe the density-wave transition of the trilayer nickelate La4Ni3O10 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-dz2 occupation within the trilayers. This electronic response is accompanied by clear shifts and splittings of the out-of-plane phonons, compatible with a density-wave instability of electronic origin.
@article{arxiv.2601.08997,
title = {Electronic layer decoupling driven by density-wave order in La$_4$Ni$_3$O$_{10}$},
author = {Ziqiang Guan and Sophia F. R. TenHuisen and M. Tepie and Yifeng Zhao and Ezra Day-Roberts and Harrison LaBollita and Alexander M. Young and Xiaomeng Cui and Xinglong Chen and Filippo Glerean and Carl A. Guia and Mark P. M. Dean and Philip Kim and J. F. Mitchell and Antia S. Botana and Christopher C. Homes and Matteo Mitrano},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.08997},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
31 pages, 22 figures, main text and supplementary material