State-selective intersystem crossing in nitrogen-vacancy centers
State-selective intersystem crossing in nitrogen-vacancy centers
Motivated by recent measurements of state-selective intersystem crossing (ISC) in the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond (see companion PRL), a new microscopic model is developed of the key ISC mechanism. These nonradiative transitions between states of different spin multiplicity are pivotal in the optical initialization and readout of the NV …