Low Temperature Optical Absorption by Magnons in KNiF3 and NiO Single-Crystals

Optical absorption spectra of KNiF3 and NiO stoichiometric single-crystals were measured at 5 K in the range from 4000 to 50000 cm-1. The observed bands are interpreted based on the energy levels diagram for Ni2+ (3d 8 ) ion in a cubic crystal field. The crystal-field parameter Dq is equal to 766 cm-1 in KNiF3 and 890 cm-1 in NiO. Particular attention is paid to the band due to the magnetic-dipole 3A2g(F)→3T2g(F) transition, located at 7700 cm-1 in KNiF3 and at 8900 cm-1 in NiO. We show that the energy difference between the two peaks, located at the low energy side of the band, is related to the zone-center (k=0) one-magnon energy, so that the low-energy peak is attributed to the pure exci…