Spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling microscopy as a probe of orbital structures and ordering

Unlike charge and spin, the orbital degree of freedom of electrons in transition metal oxides is difficult to detect. We present a theoretical study of a new detection method in metallic orbitally active systems by analyzing the quasiparticle scattering interference (QPI) pattern of the spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling spectroscopy, which is sensitive to orbital structures and orbital ordering. The QPIs for the dxz and dyz-orbital bands in the t2g-orbital systems show a characteristic stripelike feature as a consequence of their quasi-one-dimensional nature, which is robust against orbital hybridization. With the occurrence of orbital ordering proposed in Sr3Ru2O7 and iron pnictides, the stripelike QPI patterns exhibit nematic distortion breaking the C4 symmetry.