Electronic structure and spectrum of Cr3+ in LiCaAlF6

The electronic structure and spectrum of Cr³⁺ in LiCaAlF₆ are investigated by using the discrete variatitional-local density functional (DV-LDF) method with embedded cluster model. The clusters (CrF₆)^3– withC ₃,D _3d andO _h point group symmetries embedded in the crystal are treated. The one-electron energy levels, densities of states, orbital populations, spin polarization splittings and energies of some terms are calculated. The results show that the relaxation of F^– ions around the Cr³⁺ impurity is inevitable, and that theD _3d andO _h (CrF₆)^3– clusters, with an extended bond-lengthR(Cr–F) chosen to be equal to 1.88 Å can represent this relaxation in a much better way. All the ligand-field transition energies, which are obtained from the transition-state energy and the Griffith parameters, as yielded by a restricted one-electron DV-LDF calculation, compare well with the experimental ones.