We study the $ab$-plane and $c$-axis charge dynamics of ${\mathrm{La}}_4{\text{Ni}}_3{\mathrm{O}}_{10}$ using optical spectroscopy. While a pronounced Drude profile, i.e., metallic response, is observed in the $ab$-plane optical conductivity ${\sigma }_1^{ab}(\omega )$, the $c$-axis optical spectra ${\sigma }_1^c(\omega )$ exhibit semiconducting behavior. The zero-frequency extrapolation of the optical conductivity ${\sigma }_1(\omega \to 0)\equiv 1/{\rho }_{\mathrm{dc}}$ leads to a resistivity anisotropy ${\rho }_c/{\rho }_{ab}$ exceeding 1000 at low temperatures, which is much larger than the values in iron-based superconductors but comparable to those in high-$T_c$ cuprates. The interband response is also highly anisotropic, showing salient orbital selectivity for light polarized in the $ab$ plane and along the $c$ axis. The interband-transition peaks in both ${\sigma }_1^{ab}(\omega )$ and ${\sigma }_1^c(\omega )$ are located at lower energies compared to density-functional-theory predictions, signifying considerable electronic correlations. By investigating the spectral weight transfer, we find that above the density-wave transition, Coulomb correlations have a marked impact on the charge dynamics of ${\mathrm{La}}_4{\text{Ni}}_3{\mathrm{O}}_{10}$, whereas in the density-wave state, a gap opens with the Ni-$d_{z^2}$ orbital being involved.

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• Charge dynamics
• Electronic structure
• Optical conductivity
• Superconductivity
• Nickelates
• Strongly correlated systems
• Density functional theory
• Optical spectroscopy