Continuous charge modulated diagonal phase in manganites

We present a novel ground state that explains the continuous charge modulated diagonal order recently observed in manganese oxides, at hole concentrations x larger than one-half. In this diagonal phase the charge is modulated with a predominant Fourier component inversely proportional to 1-x. Magnetically this state consists of antiferromagnetically coupled zigzag chains. For a wide range of physical parameters such as electron-phonon coupling, antiferromagnetic interaction between Mn ions, and on-site Coulomb repulsion, the diagonal phase is the ground state of the system. Also we find that the diagonal modulation of the electron density is only a small fraction of the average charge, a much smaller modulation than the one obtained by distributing Mn+3 and Mn+4 ions. We discuss also the spin and orbital structure properties of this new diagonal phase.