Origin of visible photoluminescence in NiO and NicMg1-cO single crystals

A study of the visible photoluminescence in single-crystal NiO and NicMg1-cO (c = 0.99, 0.98 and 0.95) solid solutions is presented for the first time. Two wide luminescence bands, peaked at approximately 12000 cm-1 and approximately 18500 cm-1, were observed. The dependence of their intensity and position on the excitation energy, temperature, and composition were investigated. We attribute the origin of two photoluminescence bands to the impurity- or defect perturbed Ni2+ excitons.