Measurement of decay time for the NV centre in Ib diamond with a picosecond laser pulse

The luminescence decay time of the NV center in synthetic Ib diamonds has been measured using the picosecond excitation system at room temperature and ca 5 K. The decay profile with two exponential components of 2.0+/-0.1 ns and 8.0+/-0.2 ns has been obtained at room temperature. Around 5 K, the long decay component becomes slightly longer. The decay times observed at 637.5 nm of the zero-phonon line and at 670 nm in the phonon-side band are independent of wavelength. This value is compared with the previous value observed by other workers. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.