---
abstract: 'Electronic excitations and optical spectra of $CdF_{2}$ are calculated up to ultraviolet employing state-of-the-art techniques based on density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory. The GW scheme proposed by Hedin has been used for the electronic self-energy to calculate single-particle excitation properties as energy bands and densities of states. For optical properties many-body effects, treated within the Bethe-Salpeter equation framework, turn out to be crucial. A bound exciton located about 1 eV below the quasiparticle gap is predicted. Within the present scheme the optical absorption spectra and other optical functions show an excellent agreement with experimental data. Moreover, we tested different schemes to obtain the best agreement with experimental data. Among the several schemes, we suggest a self-consistent quasiparticle energy scheme.'
author:
- 'Giancarlo Cappellini,$^{1,2}$ Jürgen Furthmüller,$^3$ Emiliano Cadelano,$^{1,2}$ Friedhelm Bechstedt$^3$'
title: 'Electronic and optical properties of Cadmium fluoride: the role of many-body effects'
---

Introduction {#sec:introdution}
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Fluorides and fluorite-type crystals have recently attracted much interest for their intrinsic optical properties and their potential applications in optoelectronic devices.[@rubloff] Because of their peculiar optical properties, possible applications in ultraviolet (UV) laser optics could be considered. For example, excimer ArF lasers with an emission wavelength of 193 nm and 