Identification and magneto-optical properties of the NV center in 4H-SiC

Single spin carrying defects are key elements in quantum information and nanosensing technology with the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond being the outstanding example. In a combined electron paramagnetic resonance and first-principles modeling study we verify the existence of such NV centers in 4H-SiC in the form of silicon vacancy-nitrogen pairs (VSiNC) and explore their basic magneto-optical properties. Similar to the NV center in diamond, the (3)A(2) triplet ground state (with a zero-field splitting of D = 429 x 10(-4) cm(-1)) of the singly negative charge state in axial coordination can be optically spin polarized at room temperature. Given the mature technology of 4H-SiC the NV center in this material is expected to play an important role in future spintronics applications.