Nickel Related Absorption Lines in High-Pressure Synthetic Diamond
Keyword(s):
ABSTRACTDiamonds grown by the temperature gradient method using a nickel catalyst show an optical absorption band, extending from 2.5 eV to 2.56 eV, with a zero-phonon line at 2.51 eV. At 4 K this line exhibits fine structure; it is made up of 3 components at 2.509 eV, 2.510 eV and 2.511 eV. In absorption the fine structure components have the same relative intensity at different temperatures. We report on the effects of uniaxial stress on the zero-phonon transition at 77 K. We propose an interpretation of the results according to which the optical defect has a tetrahedral symmetry, and the 2.51 eV line occurs between two T2 states.