Abstract
By means of a scanning micro-region infrared reflectance spectroscopy, we study a real-space imaging of local electronic states in a 4d-electron transition-metal oxide Ca2RuO4. Our spectroscopic imaging shows a macroscopic spatial inhomogeneity of energy gap in the orbital-ordered insulating phase below 360 K. The result includes no metal–insulator domains but rather an inhomogeneous distribution of the energy gap. We demonstrate that the gap distribution is intimately correlated with local crystalline disorders, indicating a strong electron–lattice coupling expected in orbital-ordered systems. Such a disorder-sensitive infrared spectroscopy is reminiscent of a disorder effect on charge/orbital order in 3d oxides, implying a significant role of quenched disorder in various orbital-ordered systems.
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