First-principles optical spectra for F centers in MgO

The study of the oxygen vacancy (F center) in MgO has been aggravated by the fact that the positively charged and the neutral vacancy (F ⁺ and F0, respectively) absorb at practically identical energies. Here we apply many-body perturbation theory in the G ₀W ₀ approximation and the Bethe-Salpeter approach to calculate the optical absorption and emission spectrum of the oxygen vacancy in all three charge states. We observe unprecedented agreement between the calculated and the experimental optical absorption spectra for the F0 and F ⁺ center. Our calculations reveal that not only the absorption but also the emission spectra of different charge states peak at nearly the same energy, which leads to a reinterpretation of the F center's optical properties. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.