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Updated: Oct 17, 2025

All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
The NV-N+ charged pair in diamond: a quantum-mechanical investigation
Anna Maria Ferrari1, Khaled E El-Kelany, Francesco Silvio Gentile
1Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Torino and NIS (Nanostructured Interfaces and Surfaces) Centre, Via P. Giuria 5, 10125 Torino, Italy. anna.ferrari@unito.it.
Abstract:
The NV-N+ charged pair in diamond has been investigated by using a Gaussian-type basis set, the B3LYP functional, the supercell scheme and the CRYSTAL code. It turns out that: (i) when the distance between the two defects is larger than 6-7 Å, the properties of the double defect are the superposition of the properties of the individual defects. (ii) The energy required for the reaction NV0 + Ns→ NV- + N+ is roughly -1.3 eV at about 12 Å, irrespective of the basis set and functional adopted, and remains negative at any larger distance. (iii) These results support the observation of a charge transfer mechanism through a Ns→ NV0 donation occurring in the ground state, through a tunnelling process, without irradiation. (iv) The IR spectrum of the two subunits is characterized by specific peaks, that might be used as fingerprints. (v) Calculation of electrostatic interaction permitted an estimate of the effective charge of the defects.
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