Model systems and photo-kinetics of single N-V defect centers in diamond

Summary form only given. Fluorescence excitation method of single molecule spectroscopy has been applied recently to study individual nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) defect centers in diamond. These objects are of great interest owing to the proposal to build quantum computer at /sup 13/C nuclear spins neighboring the N-V center. Based on new spectroscopic information we have developed simple models of the N-V center and used them to describe a wide range of experiments dealing both with single centers and with their ensembles. The first model emphasizes possible tunneling of N atom into vacancy and describes that in terms of double well potentials. The second model takes into account the spin-triplet character of the ground electronic state of the center and allows to describe a variety of fluorescence detected magnetic resonance phenomena.