X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements have been performed to elucidate local electronic and atomic structures of orthorhombic 3d-transition metal-doped yttrium manganites ͑YMnO 3 ͒ with chemical formulae YMn 2/3 Me 1/3 O 3 ͑Me= Co, Ni, and Cu͒. The Mn L 3 -and K-edges x-ray absorption near-edge structure ͑XANES͒ demonstrate the direct substitution of Me 2+ for Mn 3+ , so that the positive effective charge of Mn ions are increased. Me-doping is also found to induce substantial broadening of the Mn L 3 -edge feature, which suggests enhancement of the delocalization of Mn 3d e g subbands and conductivity. Local spin density approximation ͑LSDA͒ +U ͑Hubbard U parameter͒ calculations were used to understand their electronic structures.

Electronic structures of strained Nd 1−x Ca x MnO 3 ͑NCMO͒ thin films with x = 0 to 0.8 are investigated via x-ray absorption spectroscopy ͑XAS͒. The obtained O 1s spectra within the photon energy 529-535 eV can be decomposed into e g ↑ 1 , e g ↑ 2 , t 2g ↓, and e g ↓ bands. Based on the assigned energy levels of these band states, the energies of magnetic exchange, crystal field and Jahn-Teller ͑JT͒ splitting are determined. Particularly, the JT splitting is around 0.8 eV, which is observed with O 1s XAS for the first time in NCMO thin films.