First observation of paramagnetic nitrogen dangling-bond centers in silicon nitride

We report the first definitive identification of nitrogen dangling bonds in silicon nitride. A computer analysis of ¹⁴N hyperfine parameters shows that the unpaired electron is strongly localized on the central nitrogen atom and that the unpaired electron's wave function is almost entirely p in character. This is only the second fundamental intrinsic electron-paramagnetic-resonance center to be identified in silicon nitride.