1. Evolution of Electronic Correlations in the Ruddlesden-Popper Nickelates
- Author
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Liu, Zhe, Li, Jie, Huo, Mengwu, Ji, Bingke, Hao, Jiahao, Dai, Yaomin, Ou, Mengjun, Li, Qing, Sun, Hualei, Xu, Bing, Lu, Yi, Wang, Meng, and Wen, Hai-Hu
- Subjects
Condensed Matter - Superconductivity ,Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons - Abstract
We report on optical studies of the Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates La$_{n+1}$Ni$_{n}$O$_{3n+1}$ with $n = 2$ (La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$), $n = 3$ (La$_{4}$Ni$_{3}$O$_{10}$) and $n = \infty$ (LaNiO$_{3}$). As the number of the NiO$_{6}$ octahedra layers $n$ grows, the ratio of the kinetic energy determined from the experimental optical conductivity and that from band theory $K_{\text{exp}}/K_{\text{band}}$ increases, suggesting a reduction of electronic correlations. While the strong electronic correlations in the bilayer La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ place it on the verge of the Mott insulating phase, the trilayer La$_{4}$Ni$_{3}$O$_{10}$ and infinite-layer LaNiO$_{3}$ exhibit moderate electronic correlations, falling into the regime of correlated metals. The evolution of the electronic correlations in La$_{n+1}$Ni$_{n}$O$_{3n+1}$ is likely to be dominated by the Ni-$d_{z^2}$ orbital. Our results provide important information for understanding the superconductivity in Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Comments are welcome and appreciated
- Published
- 2024