Magnetic properties of nitrogen doped diamond: A first principles study

Abstract

The magnetic and electrical properties of nitrogen doped diamond system have been studied within the framework of a density functional theoretical approach. Spin-polarised calculations reveal that only the nitrogen doped system with adjacent carbon vacancies (NV-centre) leads to stable magnetism in N-doped diamond. The magnitude of the induced magnetic moment increases linearly with increasing number of NV centres in the system. This result explains earlier experimental reports suggesting unconventional magnetism in N-doped pristine diamond. The 2p-orbital electrons of the three carbon atoms adjacent to the vacancy contribute to the magnetic moment in the system. Notably, lone N at the lattice site in diamond system fails to induce any significant moment, whearas the C-vacancy and N-interstitial positions induce magnetic moment in the diamond system. Moreover, the NV-center system has p-type semiconducting characteristics, making it a potential candidate for spintronics applications. To quantify the feasibility of different systems, the magnetic moment, ground state free energy, Fermi energy and defect formation energy were calculated for each structure.