Raman scattering study of vibrational and magnetic excitations in <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="bold">Sr</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>2</mml:mn><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mi>x</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="bold">La</mml:mi><mml:mi>x</mml:mi></mml:msub><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="bold">IrO</mml:mi><mml:mn>4</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>

Sr${}_{2}$IrO${}_{4}$ is considered as a strong spin-orbit coupled equivalent of high-temperature superconducting cuprates. Recent experiments have most notably shown that upon electron doping a pseudogap emerges in Sr${}_{2}$IrO${}_{4}$ and that magnonlike excitations survive the rapid disappearance of long-range magnetic order. However, due to the relatively small crystal sizes and the large Ir neutron cross section, information on charge excitations and magnetism has mostly been gathered using synchrotron-based spectroscopic methods. Here, the authors use Raman scattering on electron-doped Sr${}_{2-x}$La${}_{x}$IrO${}_{4}$ single crystals to carry out a temperature and doping study of the lattice and magnetic excitations, and observe the emergence upon doping of an electron-hole continuum that couples to the phonons. Even in metallic samples, fluctuating magnetic moments and mobile carriers therefore coexist, again in close analogy with the doped cuprates.