Orbital differentiation enhanced by structural modification in <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mrow><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">Pr</mi><mn>4</mn></msub><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">Ni</mi><mn>3</mn></msub><msub><mi mathvariant="normal">O</mi><mn>10</mn></msub></mrow></math>

Yidian Li; Mingxin Zhang; Xian Du; Cuiying Pei; Jieyi Liu; Houke Chen; Wenxuan Zhao; Kaiyi Zhai; Yinqi Hu; Senyao Zhang; Jiawei Shao; Mingxin Mao; Yantao Cao; Jinkui Zhao; Zhengtai Liu; Dawei Shen; Yaobo Huang; Makoto Hashimoto; Donghui Lu; Zhongkai Liu; Yulin Chen; Hanjie Guo; Yilin Wang; Yanpeng Qi; Lexian Yang

doi:10.1103/rth1-28lc

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Orbital differentiation enhanced by structural modification in $\Pr_{4} {Ni}_{3} O_{10}$

Yidian Li^1,*, Mingxin Zhang^2,3,*, Xian Du⁴, Cuiying Pei², Jieyi Liu ⁵, Houke Chen⁶, Wenxuan Zhao¹, Kaiyi Zhai¹, Yinqi Hu¹ et al.

Senyao Zhang¹, Jiawei Shao¹, Mingxin Mao¹, Yantao Cao⁷, Jinkui Zhao³, Zhengtai Liu ⁸, Dawei Shen⁹, Yaobo Huang⁸, Makoto Hashimoto ¹⁰, Donghui Lu¹⁰, Zhongkai Liu^11,2, Yulin Chen^2,6,11, Hanjie Guo³, Yilin Wang^12,13,†, Yanpeng Qi^2,11,14,‡, and Lexian Yang ^1,15,§

¹State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
²State Key Laboratory of Quantum Functional Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
³Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong 523808, China
⁴Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA
⁵Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
⁶Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
⁷Key Lab for Magnetism and Magnetic Materials of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
⁸Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China
⁹School of Nuclear Science and Technology and National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230029, China
¹⁰Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
¹¹ShanghaiTech Laboratory for Topological Physics, Shanghai 200031, China
¹²School of Emerging Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
¹³Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230088, China
¹⁴Shanghai Key Laboratory of High-resolution Electron Microscopy, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China
¹⁵Frontier Science Center for Quantum Information, Beijing 100084, China

^*These authors contributed equally to this work.
^†Contact author: yilinwang@ustc.edu.cn
^‡Contact author: qiyp@shanghaitech.edu.cn
^§Contact author: lxyang@tsinghua.edu.cn

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Phys. Rev. B 114, L111105 – Published 13 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/rth1-28lc

Abstract

The interplay among orbital-selective electron correlation, Hund's coupling, tunable structural motifs, and Kondo-like scattering establishes a compelling paradigm for understanding and engineering correlated multiorbital systems, as vividly exemplified by nickelate superconductors. Here, using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy combined with theoretical calculations, we systematically investigate the electronic properties of trilayer nickelates. In ${La}_{4} {Ni}_{3} O_{10}$ , we observe pronounced interorbital hybridization, whereas in $\Pr_{4} {Ni}_{3} O_{10}$ , the flat $d_{z^{2}}$ band becomes markedly incoherent and diminishes in spectral weight. By contrast, the dispersive $d_{x^{2} - y^{2}}$ bands retain coherence in both compounds. This striking incoherence/coherence dichotomy identifies an orbital differentiation modulated by the interlayer Ni-O-Ni bonding angle. The depletion of the $d_{z^{2}}$ orbitals further suppresses the interorbital hybridization and influences the density-wave transition in $\Pr_{4} {Ni}_{3} O_{10}$ . Moreover, the density-wave gap is substantially reduced in $\Pr_{4} {Ni}_{3} O_{10}$ , likely due to extra scattering channels provided by the local moments of $P r^{3 +}$ cations. Our findings reveal a structural control parameter for the multiorbital correlated state in trilayer nickelates, providing important insights into the emergence of superconductivity under high pressure.

Physical Review B

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Orbital differentiation enhanced by structural modification in $\Pr_{4} {Ni}_{3} O_{10}$

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Orbital differentiation enhanced by structural modification in Pr4Ni3O10

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Orbital differentiation enhanced by structural modification in $\Pr_{4} {Ni}_{3} O_{10}$