COMMENT ON ELECTRONIC-STRUCTURE OF THE N-V CENTER IN DIAMOND - THEORY

It is argued that the model advanced by Lenef and Rand [Phys. Rev. B 5 3, 13 441 (1996)] for the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, exhibiti ng the 1.945-eV luminescence is incorrect. Lenef and Rand argue that t he electronic ground state consists of two electrons occupying a(1) st ates localized on N and C, respectively, and are decoupled from the ot her three electrons occupying gap states. This model is inconsistent w ith experiments and other theoretical works. The existence of a Jahn-T eller state 46 cm(-1) above the excited state of the defect is also in conflict with previous experiments. [S0163-1829(97)02147-4].