  We performed high-temperature luminescence studies of silicon-vacancy color
centers obtained by ion implantation in single crystal diamond. We observed
reduction of the integrated fluorescence upon increasing temperature,
ascribable to a transition channel with an activation energy of 180 meV that
populates a shelving state. Nonetheless, the signal decreased only 50% and 75%
with respect to room temperature at 500 K and 700 K, respectively. In addition,
the color center is found highly photostable at temperatures exceeding 800 K.
The luminescence of this color center is thus extremely robust even at large
temperatures and it holds promise for novel diamond-based light-emitting
devices.
