  The optical-absorption edge of single crystals of CaWO4, SrWO4, BaWO4, and
PbWO4 has been measured under high pressure up to ~20 GPa at room temperature.
From the measurements we have obtained the evolution of the band-gap energy
with pressure. We found a low-pressure range (up to 7-10 GPa) where
alkaline-earth tungstates present a very small Eg pressure dependence (-2.1 <
dEg/dP < 8.9 meV/GPa). In contrast, in the same pressure range, PbWO4 has a
pressure coefficient of -62 meV/GPa. The high-pressure range is characterized
in the four compounds by an abrupt decrease of Eg followed by changes in
dEg/dP. The band-gap collapse is larger than 1.2 eV in BaWO4. We also
calculated the electronic-band structures and their pressure evolution.
Calculations allow us to interpret experiments considering the different
electronic configuration of divalent metals. Changes in the pressure evolution
of Eg are correlated with the occurrence of pressure-induced phase transitions.
The band structures for the low- and high-pressure phases are also reported. No
metallization of any of the compounds is detected in experiments nor is
predicted by calculations.
