Nitrogen-vacancy (NV-) centers in diamond host well-isolated, controllable spin states, making them prime candidate systems for room temperature quantum information. Optical transitions play a critical role in reading out the spin states, but those processes are strongly influenced by the presence of defect vibrational modes, giving rise to a quasi-continuum of energy levels associated with each spin state. Thus, one major challenge is identifying individual vibrational modes that preferentially participate in optical absorption and luminescence. Solving this problem requires an intricate understanding of an NV- center’s electronic states, vibrational states, and electron-phonon coupling. I will describe how first-principles electronic structure calculations can accurately model the NV- center’s electrons and nuclei, while also reviewing some fundamental properties of crystal defect systems.
The Zoom link will be sent to the Graduate Student and PDRA mailing lists. If you are not on one of those lists and are interested in attending, please email Mark Hirsbrunner at hrsbrnn2@illinois.edu for the link.
