Ab initio investigation of the electronic structure of AgCl

The structural and electronic behavior of a prototype silver halide, namely AgCl, has been investigated by means of the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method with the local density approximation. The aim of our study is to focus on the influence of the d metal orbitals through a detailed analysis of the electronic energies. The presence the d Ag orbitals leads to a strong hybridization between them and the p halogen ones, giving rise to specific electronic states organization and charge distribution. As expected from its rock-salt structure, AgCl is as an ionic compound characterized by a mixed p-d top valence band.