Pressure Shifts of Valence and Core Exciton Peaks in Potassium Iodide

Hydrostatic pressure shifts of valence and core exciton peaks in KI are measured with a modulation method at about 120 K. The pressure coefficients are determined to be, in units of 10 -3 meV/bar, 17.0 and 4.7 for the valence excitons at 5.73 and 7.22 eV, and 18.8, 17.0 and -38.7 for the core excitons at 19.95, 20.20 and 21.05 eV, respectively. The pressure shifts of the lowest exciton at 5.73 eV and the core excitons are discussed with a simple model of localized transitions. Experimental results for the lowest exciton and the core excitons at 19.95 and 20.20 eV are explained well in this model, but the shift of the core exciton at 21.05 eV does not agree with the theoretical expectation. The exciton-phonon interaction term contributing to thermal shifts of the excitons is deduced from the present pressure coefficients.