Comment on “Electronic structure of the N-Vcenter in diamond: Theory”

It is argued that the model advanced by Lenef and Rand [Phys. Rev. B 53, 13 441 (1996)] for the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, exhibiting the 1.945-eV luminescence is incorrect. Lenef and Rand argue that the electronic ground state consists of two electrons occupying a₁ states localized on N and C, respectively, and are decoupled from the other three electrons occupying gap states. This model is inconsistent with experiments and other theoretical works. The existence of a Jahn-Teller state 46 cm^-1 above the excited state of the defect is also in conflict with previous experiments.