PARAMAGNETIC N1 CENTER IN PLASTICALLY DEFORMED AND DIFFERENTLY COLORED CRYSTALS OF NATURAL DIAMOND

Abstract

Among more than 100 paramagnetic centers discovered to date in diamond, only approximately one dozen centers are sufficiently widespread in natural crystals. In other words, the concentrations of such centers appear to be relatively high and responsible for certain physical properties of crystals in some cases. In other cases, although the centers lack direct relationships with physical characteristics of the crystals, their presence and mode of occurrence reflect certain structural and physical features of the crystals. The present paper reports results of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) investigation of the well-known N 1 center, which includes two nonequivalent nitrogen atoms. We also scrutinized associations of this center with other paramagnetic centers and specific features of the distribution of various types of centers in the crystal volume. These characteristics are essential for the reconstruction of epigenetic alterations of diamond and the elucidation of the genesis of some color types associated with the epigenetic impact.