Daily Overview: Today’s highlight focuses on deepening the understanding of the electronic structure of mixed Ruddlesden-Popper nickelates. In [1], the researchers combined high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with a tight-binding model to systematically reveal the electronic structure of the trilayer nickel oxide La₄Ni₃O₁₀. For the first time, band splitting induced by interlayer coupling was experimentally observed, and a momentum-dependent density wave gap structure on the Fermi surface was resolved. Its origin can be attributed to interlayer antiferromagnetic spin density waves resulting from mirror-symmetry-selective Fermi surface nesting. This work also confirms the dominant role of the Ni-3d_z² orbital in low-energy physics, providing a key framework for understanding the formation mechanism of density wave order under ambient pressure and the correlation between pressure-induced superconductivity and interlayer spin fluctuations. arXiv submission processing window: 2026-01-30 06:01 to 2026-01-30 06:01 UTC.

1. Electronic Origin of Density Wave Orders in a Trilayer Nickelate

  • Relevance Score: 5.9166
  • Authors: Jiangang Yang, Jun Zhan, Taimin Miao, Mengwu Huo, Qichen Xu, Yinghao Li, Yuyang Xie, Bo Liang, Neng Cai, Hao Chen, Wenpei Zhu, Mingkai Xu, Shenjin Zhang, Fengfeng Zhang, Feng Yang, Zhimin Wang, Qinjun Peng, Hanqing Mao, Xintong Li, Zhihai Zhu, Guodong Liu, Zuyan Xu, Jiangping Hu, Xianxin Wu, Meng Wang, Lin Zhao, X. J. Zhou
  • Link: http://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22608v1

Summary: By combining high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with tight-binding model simulations, this study systematically reveals the electronic structure of the triple-layer Ruddlesden-Popper nickelate La₄Ni₃O₁₀. For the first time, interlayer coupling-induced band splitting is experimentally observed, and the momentum-dependent density-wave gap structure on all Fermi surfaces is resolved. It is found that mirror-symmetry-selective Fermi surface nesting serves as the origin of the interlayer antiferromagnetic spin-density wave, while the Ni-3d_z² orbital is confirmed to dominate the low-energy physics. These results elucidate the formation mechanism of the density-wave order under ambient pressure and provide a key framework for understanding pressure-induced superconductivity in this system as well as the relationship between interlayer spin fluctuations and pairing.