Transient hole burning in N-V centre in diamond

Abstract The hole-burning spectrum associated with the 637 nm zero-phonon line in diamond is obtained using two CW lasers of equal intensity. Antiholes are observed at 2.88 and 0.8 GHz when burning on the low energy side of the zero-phonon line and at 2.88, 2.05 and 0.46 GHz when burning on the high energy side of the line. One sidehole is detected but only when the fastest sweep rates are used. The frequencies of the holes and antiholes are compared with frequencies obtained by other measurements and excited state energy levels are proposed.