Self-consistent energy band structure of magnesium fluoride using the LCAO method

A self-consistent energy band structure calculation for magnesium fluoride is presented. Comparison with experiment indicates that some of the peaks in the epsilon 2 spectra which were associated with interband transitions may be due to excitons associated with the onset of the interband transitions and that the band gap is direct Gamma point transition of 13.6 eV. Mulliken population analysis indicates that this a strongly ionic crystal even though its positive ion corresponds to a group-II element.