Bright luminescence of diamonds with Ge-V centers

We report on the quantum yield (η) and decay time (τ) measurements at room temperature for the bright red-orange (602 nm) luminescence from new germanium-vacancy (Ge-V) centers in nano- and microcrystalline diamonds synthesized at high pressure and high temperature. The values η = 3 ± 1% and τ = 6.2±0.2 ns were found. The Stokes shift measured as the energy difference between the maxima of the luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra is negligible. The relative intensity of the zero-phonon line constitutes up to 70% of the total intensity of the luminescence. Results of our ab initio DFT calculations for the ground-state electronic and vibrational structure of (Ge-V)^- in diamond are presented and discussed.