The optical gap of NiO

The nature of the optical absorption gap in NiO at 4.0 eV is investigated. It is found that this gap is due to a band to band transition, where an electron is taken out of the valence band and placed into the conduction band. The optical gap of 6.0 eV found in NiMgO is of a nature, where an electron is taken out of the oxygen 2p band and placed into the first affinity level of the Ni²⁺ ion (3d ⁸L»3d ⁹L^–1). The impurity band created in Ni_1–x Li _x O by the Li ions is found 2.3 eV below the bottom of the conduction band in agreement with model predictions.