Charge ordering and chemical potential shift in La_(2-x)Sr_xNiO₄ studied by photoemission spectroscopy

We have studied the chemical potential shift in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_4$ and the charge ordering transition in La$_{1.67}$Sr$_{0.33}$NiO$_4$ by photoemission spectroscopy. The result shows a large ($\sim$ 1 eV/hole) downward shift of the chemical potential with hole doping in the high-doping regime ($\delta \gtrsim$ 0.33) while the shift is suppressed in the low-doping regime ($\delta \lesssim$ 0.33). This suppression is attributed to a segregation of doped holes on a microscopic scale when the hole concentration is lower than $\delta \simeq 1/3$. In the $\delta = 1/3$ sample, the photoemission intensity at the chemical potential vanishes below the charge ordering transition temperature $T_{\rm CO}=$ 240 K.