CHEN Feng

(State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550002, China)

Abstract: Color center is one of the main color-forming mechanisms of minerals. Minerals with color centers include sylvine, halite, fluorite, quartz, and diamond. In this paper, the color center of diamond has been mainly introduced. There are many defects in diamond, especially the nitrogen center. The nitrogen center consists of a carbon-substituted nitrogen and a vacancy, including the electrically neutral NV0 and negatively charged NV－. The NV－ center can be used as quantum bit (qubit) at room temperature. In this paper, the crystal structure and electronic structure of the NV－center have been described, and the qubits of electrons and nuclei have been gradually established step by step through the photoluminescence, electron spin, and nuclear spin of the NV－center. Finally, the application prospective of nitrogen centers in fields of the quantum information, sensors, and life sciences have been discussed.

Keywords: Color center; diamond; nitrogen center; photoluminescence; electron spin; nuclear spin; quantum bit (qubit)

ACTA MINERALOGICA SINICA Vol. 41, No.2, 2021, page 109-119