Engineering NV Centers via Hydrogen-Driven Defect Chemistry in CVD Diamonds for Quantum Applications: NVHx Dissociations into NV, Origin of 468nm Center, and Cause of Brown Coloration

Abstract

Achieving high NV center conversion efficiency remains a key challenge in advancing diamond-based quantum technologies. The generally accepted mechanism for NV formation is that irradiation-induced vacancies become mobile during annealing and are trapped by substitutional nitrogen. However, the suggested mechanism does not consider the presence and role of the presence of hydrogen in the diamond and its influence on the NV formation pathway. This is despite ab initio calculations which strongly suggest the formation of hydrogen-passivated NV centers during CVD diamond growth. Recent experimental observations showing a strong spatial correlation between NV centers, brown coloration, and the 468 nm luminescence center in as-grown CVD diamonds prompted us to investigate the atomistic origin of these phenomena in the presence of NxVHy-type complex defects. We used hybrid density functional theory (DFT) calculations and spectroscopic analysis of CVD diamonds grown with varying nitrogen content to investigate defect equilibria during growth. We identified the 468 nm center as the NVH⁻ defect—a hydrogen-passivated NV center—and assigned the characteristic UV–VIS absorption bands at 270, 360, and 520 nm to NxVHy complexes. Our findings reveal that hydrogen plays a central role in stabilizing these defects during growth. We further showed that NVHx complex defects dissociate into NV centers and interstitial hydrogen during post-growth irradiation and annealing, complementing vacancy trapping by substitutional nitrogen. These results provide a unified picture of the defect chemistry underlying brown coloration, 468 nm center and NV formation in CVD diamonds, offering new insights for optimizing diamond synthesis and processing for quantum applications by taking advantage of hydrogen’s role and dissociation of NVHx complexes.