We report the observation of superstructures associated with the oxygen 2p-states in two prototypical manganites using x-ray diffraction at the oxygen K-edge. We determine the nature of the orderings and discuss our picture with respect to novel theo
retical models. In the stripe order system Bi0.31 Ca0.69 MnO3, hole-doped O states are found to be orbitally ordered, at the same propagation vector as the Mn orbital ordering, but no evidence is found to support a picture of oxygen charge stripes at this periodicity. In La 7/8 Sr 1/8 MnO3, we observe a 2p charge ordering described by alternating hole-poor and hole-rich MnO planes that is consistent with recent predictions.
We report the first observation of `orbital truncation rods -- the scattering arising from the termination of bulk orbital order at the surface of a crystal. The x-ray measurements, performed on a cleaved, single-layered perovskite, La0.5Sr1.5MnO4, r
eveal that while the crystallographic surface is atomically smooth, the orbital `surface is much rougher, with an r.m.s. deviation from the average `surface of ~0.7nm. The temperature dependence of this scattering shows evidence of a surface-induced second order transition.
