Spin-active color centers are the basis of solid-state defect systems utilized in quantum technologies. Although silicon is an emerging host material for quantum defects, there is an urgent need to characterize color centers with a nonzero electron-spin ground state in this platform, in addition to the prominent T center. In this work, we perform first-principles calculations to identify the possible atomic structures compatible with the experimentally observed N-line series in silicon. We propose that the core structure of the N1 center consists of a neighboring carbon and nitrogen interstitial pair. Furthermore, we predict that more complex defects involving self-interstitial and interstitial oxygen atoms are feasible candidates for the further lines in the series. As all of these color centers are isoelectronic to the T center, they provide a family of alternative spin qubits with emission near the low-energy telecommunication bands.

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• Electronic structure
• Point defects
• Quantum memories
• Single photon sources
• Density functional theory