Relative contributions of lattice distortion and orbital ordering to resonant x-ray scattering in manganites

We investigated the origin of the energy splitting observed in the resonant x-ray scattering (RXS) in manganites. Using thin film samples with controlled lattice parameters and orbital states at a fixed orbital filling, we estimated that the contribution of the interatomic Coulomb interaction relative to the Jahn-Teller mechanism is insignificant and at most 0.27. This indicates that RXS probes mainly Jahn-Teller distortion in manganites.