Microstructural and optical emission properties of diamond multiply twinned particles

Abstract

Multiply twinned particles (MTPs) are fascinating crystallographic entities with a number of controllable properties originating from their symmetry and cyclic structure. In the focus of our studies are diamond MTPs hosting optically active defects - objects demonstrating high application potential for emerging optoelectronic and quantum devices. In this work, we discuss the growth mechanisms along with the microstructural and optical properties of the MTPs aggregating a high-density of "silicon-vacancy" complexes on the specific crystal irregularities. It is demonstrated that the silicon impurities incite a rapid growth of MTPs via intensive formation of penetration twins on {100} facets of regular octahedral grains. We also show that the zero-phonon-line emission from the Si color centers embedded in the twin boundaries dominates in photo- and electroluminescence spectra of the MTP-based light-emitting devices defining their steady-state optical properties.