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Electron paramagnetic resonance studies of the neutral nitrogen vacancy in diamond

S. Felton, A. M. Edmonds, M. E. Newton, P. M. Martineau, D. Fisher and D. J. Twitchen, Physical Review B., 77, Art. No. 081201 (2008).

Despite the numerous experimental and theoretical studies on the negatively charged nitrogen vacancy center (NV−) in diamond and the predictions that the neutral nitrogen vacancy center (NV0) should have an S=(1/2) ground state, NV0 has not previously been detected by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). We report new EPR data on a trigonal nitrogen-containing defect in diamond with an S=(3/2) excited state populated via optical excitation. Analysis of the spin Hamiltonian parameters and the wavelength dependence of the optical excitation leads to assignment of this S=(3/2) state to the 4A2 excited state of NV0. This identification, together with an examination of the electronic structure of the NV centers in diamond, provides a plausible explanation for the lack of observation (to date) of an EPR signal from the NV0 ground state.

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