Theoretical investigation of charge transfer between the NV− center in diamond and substitutional N and P
- 15 October 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Journal of Applied Physics
- Vol. 130 (15), 155102
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0061396
Abstract
The nitrogen-vacancy (N ) lattice defect in diamond, consisting of an N substitutional atom and an adjacent C vacancy, is commonly observed in two charge states, negative (N ) and neutral (N ). The N defect exhibits spin state-dependent fluorescence and is, therefore, amenable to optical methods for spin-state readout, while the N is not. Hence, the N defect is much more useful for quantum sensing and quantum information processing. However, only N electroluminescence has been observed, even from centers showing N in photoluminescence. In the present work, we use first-principles electronic structure calculations to determine adiabatic charge transition levels for the conversion of N to N in the presence of substitutional N or P impurities, which provide the charge of the N center. We find that the adiabatic charge transition levels in the presence of such impurities lie at energies close to or lower than the zero-phonon line of the N center and that these energies only decrease as the concentration of N donors increases. This work, therefore, elucidates the absence of observed electroluminescence from the N and proposes a path toward observation of the phenomenon.
Keywords
Funding Information
- Princeton Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
- Division of Materials Research (DMR-1231319)
- National Science Foundation (ACI-1548562)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DE-AC02-05CH11231)
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