Growth and dielectric,mechanical, thermal and etching studies of an organic nonlinear optical l-arginine trifluoroacetate (LATF) single crystal

l-arginine trifluoroacetate, an organic nonlinear optical material, has been synthesized from aqueous solution. Bulk single crystal of dimension 57 mm × 5 mm × 3 mm has been grown by temperature lowering technique. Powder X-ray diffraction studies confirmed the monoclinic structure of the grown l-arginine trifluoroacetate crystal. Linear optical property of the grown crystal has been studied by UV–vis spectrum. Dielectric response of the l-arginine trifluoroacetate crystal was analysed for different frequencies and temperatures in detail. Microhardness study on the sample reveals that the crystal possesses relatively higher hardness compared to many organic crystals. Thermal analyses confirmed that the l-arginine trifluoroacetate material is thermally stable upto 212 °C. The etching studies have been performed to assess the perfection of the l-arginine trifluoroacetate crystal. Kurtz powder second harmonic generation test confirms the nonlinear optical properties of the as-grown l-arginine trifluoroacetate crystal.     

Studies on optical and mechanical properties of new organic NLO crystal: Guanidinium 4-aminobenzoate (GuAB)

Organic nonlinear optical crystal of guanidinium 4-aminobenzoate (GuAB) has been successfully grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique. The grown crystal is up to the dimension of 36 × 8 × 6 mm³. The crystal is characterized by single crystal XRD for obtaining unit cell parameters. Optical properties of the grown crystal have been studied by means of UV–Vis–NIR transmission and absorption spectra in the range of 200 to 1000 nm. The refractive index and band gap energy of the GuAB crystal are obtained as 1.68 and 3.73 eV respectively. Mechanical hardness has been carried out on the grown crystal.     

Growth and characterization of new semiorganic nonlinear optical single crystal L-Phenylalanine L-Phenylalaninium perchlorate (LPPAPC)

The new semi-organic nonlinear optical crystal, L-Phenylalanine L-Phenylalaninium perchlorate (LPPAPC) has been grown through synthesis between L-Phenylalanine and perchloric acid. The bulk crystals of dimension 5.5 × 0.4 × 0.3 cm³ were obtained by submerged seed solution method. The new compound was characterized by UV–Vis-NIR spectroscopic technique. In addition to that the solid-state structure of the crystal has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. LPPAPC was thermally stable up to 272 °C as determined by TG/DTA studies. Also, the second harmonic generation (SHG) of the LPPAPC crystal was observed using Nd: YAG laser with a fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm.     

The growth of benzophenone crystals by Sankaranarayanan–Ramasamy (SR) method and slow evaporation solution technique (SEST): A comparative investigation

Longest unidirectional〈1 0 0〉 benzophenone (BP) crystal having dimension of 1060 mm length and 55 mm diameter was grown by Sankaranarayanan–Ramasamy method. The growth rate was measured by monitoring the elevation of the crystal–solution interface at different temperatures. The high resolution X-ray diffraction and etching measurements indicate that the unidirectional grown benzophenone crystal has good crystalline perfection and less density of defects. The optical damage threshold of SEST and SR grown BP crystals has been investigated and found that the SR grown benzophenone crystal has higher laser damage threshold value than the conventional method grown crystal. Microhardness measurement shows that crystals grown by SR method have a higher mechanical stability than the crystals grown by SEST method. Dielectric permittivity and birefringence are high in SR grown crystal compared to SEST grown BP crystal. The UV–vis-NIR results show that SR method grown crystal exhibits 7% higher transmittance as against crystals grown by conventional method.     

Optical investigations on Tb3+ doped l-Histidine hydrochloride mono hydrate single crystals grown by low temperature solution techniques

The potential nonlinear optical material of Terbium (Tb³⁺) ion doped l-Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate (LHHC) single crystals were successfully grown. Tb³⁺:LHHC crystals of 7 mm × 5 mm × 3 mm and 59 mm length and 15 mm diameter have been grown by the slow solvent evaporation and Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR) techniques respectively. The grown crystals were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis to confirm the crystalline structure and morphology. High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) studies revealed that the SR grown sample shows relatively good crystalline nature with 9″ full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) for the diffraction curve. Functional groups were identified by Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR). The optical transparency and band gaps of grown crystals were measured by UV–Vis spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) studies reveal that the crystal was thermally stable up to 155 °C in SR grown crystal. Surface morphology of the growth plane was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The incorporation of Tb ion was estimated by EDAX. The frequency-dependent dielectric properties of the crystals were carried out for different temperatures. Vickers hardness study carried out on (1 0 0) face at room temperature shows increased hardness of the SR method grown crystal. Second harmonic generation efficiency of SEST and SR grown crystals are 3.2 and 3.5 times greater than that of pure KDP. The Photoluminescence (PL) studies of Tb³⁺ ions result from the radiative intra-configurational f-f transitions that occur from the ⁵D₄ excited state to the ⁷F_j (j = 6, 5, 4, 3) ground states. The decay curve of the ⁵D₄ level of emission was observed with a long life time of 319.2041 μs for the SR grown Tb³⁺:LHHC crystal.     

Growth and characterization of bis thiourea cadmium iodide: A semiorganic single crystal

Single crystals of bis thiourea cadmium iodide[CdI₂(CH₄N₂S)₂], abbreviated as BTCI, a semiorganic material has been successfully grown by both slow evaporation and slow cooling methods. Crystal of dimensions up to 3.3 × 1.0 × 1.5 cm³ is reported. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis has been carried out to confirm monoclinic system and etching studies for their perfection. The morphology of the grown crystal was also identified by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The powder X-ray diffractogram of the crystal has been recorded and the various planes of reflection are identified. The presence of functional groups and the coordination of metal ions to thiourea were confirmed by FTIR analysis. Transmission spectra reveals that the crystal has low UV cutoff of 324 nm and has a good transmittance in the entire visible region enabling its use in optical applications. The thermal behaviour of the crystal has been investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA), which indicates that the material does not decompose before melting. Studies of dielectric properties (dielectric constant and dielectric loss) both as function of frequencies (100 Hz to 5 MHz) for varying temperatures in the range 308–348 K suggests good candidate for electro optic modulators.     

Experimental and theoretical characterization of semiorganic nonlinear optical material l-leucine hydrobromide

Semiorganic nonlinear optical material l-leucine hydrobromide (LEHBr) has been synthesized and single crystals were grown by solvent evaporation method at a constant temperature of 35 °C. CHN test, FTIR and XRD analysis were performed for identification of the material. Thermal and mechanical stability of the grown crystal were investigated by DTA-TGA analysis and microhardness measurement respectively. Suitability of LEHBr for NLO application was studied by optical transmission study and second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency measurement. SHG efficiency was found to be 4 times of KDP. First hyperpolarizability, dipole moment and polarizability of LEHBr were calculated at the framework of Hartree–Fock (HF) with 6-311G(d) basis set. First order hyperpolarizability was found to be 3.233 × 10⁻³³ esu which is 4.9 times of urea.     

Structural,optical, thermal,photoconductivity, laser damage threshold and fluorescence analysis of an organic material: β-P-amino benzoic acid single crystal

β-P-amino benzoic acid, an organic single crystal was grown by slow evaporation technique. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies show that the grown crystal has β-polymorph of P-amino benzoic acid [β-PABA] form and the lattice parameters are a = 6.30 Å, b = 8.61 Å, c = 12.43 Å α = γ = 90° and β = 100.20°. FTIR analysis confirms that bands at 1588 cm⁻¹, 1415 cm⁻¹ are assigned to ring skeletal vibrations of title compound. The molecular structure of the grown crystal has been identified by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectral study. The optical absorbance spectrum from 200 to 1100 nm shows that there is an edge absorbance in UV region. Optical band gap of the crystal has been assessed from the absorbance spectrum. The thermal properties of crystals were evaluated from TG-DTA analysis, it exhibits that there is no weight loss up to 187 °C. Laser damage threshold indicates that the grown crystal has no surface damage up to 35 mJ. Photoconductivity and fluorescence spectral experiments are also carried out and the results are discussed.     

A comparative study of ferroelectric triglycine sulfate (TGS) crystals grown by conventional slow evaporation and unidirectional method

Unidirectional 〈0 1 0〉 TGS single crystal of diameter 35 mm and length 80 mm was grown by Sankaranarayanan–Ramasamy (SR) method. Nearly two times higher d₃₃ value has been obtained for the SR grown TGS crystal compared to conventional grown TGS. The etch pit density of SEST and SR method grown TGS crystal is 2.1 × 10² cm^?2 and 1.5 × 10² cm^?2 respectively. The values of hardness were found to be 152 kg/mm² for SR grown TGS and 108 kg/mm² for SEST grown TGS crystal. The average laser damage threshold obtained on the SEST grown TGS crystal was 29 mJ/cm² whereas a high damage threshold of 39 mJ/cm² was obtained for the SR grown crystal. The SR method grown TGS has 5% higher transmittance as against conventional method grown crystal. Dielectric study showed higher dielectric permittivity and lower dielectric loss in SR grown TGS crystal.     

Structure,crystalline perfection,mechanical, second harmonic generation efficiency,laser damage threshold and piezoelectric properties of bis nicotinamidium bis D-tartrate 1.25-hydrate single crystals

Bis nicotinamidium bis D-tartrate 1.25-hydrate single crystals have been grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique. Single crystal X-ray diffraction study indicates that the grown crystal crystallizes in monoclinic system with space group P2₁. Crystalline perfection of the crystal has been evaluated by high resolution X-ray diffraction technique and it reveals that the crystal is free from structural grain boundaries. Mechanical stability of the crystal has been analyzed by Vickers microhardness measurement and it exhibits reverse indentation size effect. The second harmonic generation efficiency of the grown crystal has been checked and its value is 1.24 times that of potassium dihydrogen phosphate. The surface laser damage threshold for the crystal has been analyzed and its value is 0.644 GW/cm². Piezoelectric d₃₃ co-efficient for the crystal has been examined and its value is 29.8 pC/N.     

Crystal growth and frequency conversion of BaMgF4 single crystal by temperature gradient technique

The BaMgF₄ single crystal was grown by the temperature gradient technique. Highly pure MgF₂ and BaF₂ powders were used as raw materials and CaF₂ single crystal was chosen as a seed to induce BaMgF₄ single crystal grow along 〈0 0 1〉 orientation. The short cut-off wavelength of BaMgF₄ single crystal was determined to be 130 nm which is consistent with the previously reported result. We realized second harmonic generation from 1064 nm to 532 nm laser, and 800 nm to 400 nm femtosecond laser in single domain BaMgF₄ by using birefringent phase matching. 355-nm-wavelength laser was produced by Sum-Frequency Generation from 1064-nm- and 532-nm-wavelength laser, which is the shortest coherent radiation obtained in the UV in the BaMgF₄ crystal.     

Growth and characterization of 4-methyl benzene sulfonamide single crystals

Single crystals of 4-methyl benzene sulfonamide (4MBS) were successfully grown from aqueous solution by low temperature solution growth technique. The grown crystal was characterized by single crystal XRD and powder XRD methods to obtain the lattice parameters and the diffraction planes of the crystal. UV–vis–NIR absorption spectrum was used to measure the range of optical transmittance and optical band gap energy. The optical transmission range was measured as 250–1200 nm. FTIR spectral studies were carried out to identify the presence of functional groups in the grown crystal. The thermal behavior of the crystal was investigated from thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study. The absence of SHG was noticed by Kurtz and Perry powder technique. The third order NLO behavior of the material was confirmed by measuring the nonlinear optical properties using Z-scan technique and it was found that the crystal is capable of exhibiting saturation absorption and self-defocusing performance.     

Bridgman growth of Sr3NbGa3Si2O14 single crystal

A new langasite structure piezoelectric single crystal Sr₃NbGa₃Si₂O₁₄ (SNGS) had been grown by the vertical Bridgman method for the first time. SNGS crystalline powder was synthesized as the starting material by sintering the mixture of 4N pure SrCO₃, Nb₂O₅, SiO₂ and Ga₂O₃ at 1200 °C for 16 h. 〈0 0 1〉-oriented La₃Ga₅SiO₁₄ (LGS) crystal of Ø10 mm × 35 mm was used as seed. A SNGS crystal with 25 mm in diameter and 40 mm in length has been grown from its stoichiometric melt. The transmittance spectra were measured and the transmittance of SNGS crystal was found to be greater than 80% in wavelength of 400–1000 nm.     

Structural,optical and dielectric studies of novel non-linear Bisglycine Lithium Nitrate piezoelectric single crystal

The novel non-linear semiorganic Bisglycine Lithium Nitrate (BGLiN) single crystals were grown by slow evaporation technique. The structural analysis revealed that it belongs to non-centrosymmetric orthorhombic structure. The presence of various functional groups in the grown crystal was confirmed by FTIR and Raman analysis. Surface morphology of the grown crystal was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The optical studies show that crystal has good transmittance (more than 80%) in the entire visible region and a wide band gap (5.17 eV). The optical constants such as extinction coefficient (K), the reflectance (R) and refractive index (n) as a function of photon energy were calculated from the optical measurements. With the help of these optical constants the electric susceptibility (χ_c) and both the real (ε_r) and imaginary (ε_i) parts of the dielectric constants were also calculated which are required to develop optoelectronic devices. In photoluminescence studies, a broad emission band centered at 404 nm was found in addition to a small band at 352 nm. A broad transition (from 29 to 33 °C) was observed with low dielectric constant value. A high piezoelectric charge coefficient (d₃₃) of 14 pC/N was measured at room temperature which implies its usefulness for various sensor applications. The second harmonic generation efficiency of crystal was found to be 1.5 times to that of KDP. From thermo gravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis, thermal stability and melting point (246 °C) were investigated. The dielectric behavior, optical characterization, piezoelectric behavior and the non-linear optical properties of the Bisglycine Lithium Nitrate single crystals were reported for the first time which established the usefulness of these crystals for various piezo- and opto-electronics applications.     

Effect of KCl on the bulk growth KDP crystals by Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy method

The effect of the addition of potassium chloride (KCl) in bulk growth unidirectional 〈0 0 1〉 potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) grown from aqueous solution by Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR) method has been studied. The crystal of 15 mm diameter, 95 mm height was grown by SR method. Addition of 5 M% KCl in the bulk growth medium increases the quality as well as the growth rate. The grown crystals were characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, microhardness and dielectric studies. It reveals that the SR method grown crystalline quality and perfection is better than the conventional method grown crystal.     

Investigation on growth,structural, optical,thermal, dielectric and mechanical properties of organic l-prolinium trichloroacetate single crystals

A new organic nonlinear optical material l-prolinium trichloroacetate (l-PTCA) single crystal has been synthesized and grown by slow solvent evaporation technique at room temperature using water as solvent. Single-crystal X-ray diffractometer was utilized to measure unit cell parameters and to confirm lattice parameter. The powder X-ray diffraction pattern of the grown l-PTCA has been indexed. The modes of vibration of different molecular groups present in the sample were identified by the FTIR spectral analysis. The optical transmittance window and the lower cutoff wavelength of the l-PTCA have been identified by UV–vis–NIR studies. Thermal stability of the l-prolinium trichloroacetate was determined by TGA/DTA measurements. Dielectric measurements were carried out at various temperatures at frequency range 10–1 MHz. The mechanical properties of the grown crystals have been analyzed by Vickers microhardness method. The chemical etching studies were carried out on the grown crystals. Its SHG efficiency has been tested by Kurtz powder method.     

Growth,microhardness, dielectric and photoconductivity studies on NPNaLi: A promising crystal for NLO applications

Single crystals of nonlinear optical sodium substituted lithium p-nitrophenolate trihydrate (NPNaLi·3H₂O) have been grown successfully by slow solvent evaporation technique. The grown crystals are subjected to powder X-ray diffraction, microhardness, dielectric and photoconductivity studies. NLO activity of the crystal is found to be increased in the presence of sodium ions. Microhardness on (1 1 0) and (1 0 1) planes reveal the anisotropic behaviour in Vicker's hardness number. Dielectric constant is found to be less and independent at higher frequencies. Electrical conductivity and photoconductivity are found to be increasing in the presence of sodium in the lattice of NPLi. The results of SEM analysis also have been revealed.     

Growth and properties of sodium tetraborate decahydrate single crystals

Sodium tetraborate decahydrate (Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O) single crystals were grown from aqueous solution by slow solvent evaporation method and its functional groups have been confirmed by FTIR. Grown crystals were found to be hard in nature (n = 1.8). From optical studies band gap of the material was found to be 4.1 eV and PL emission peak was found at 340 nm which can be due to annihilation self trapped excitons present in borate crystals. Dielectric constant was found to increase with temperature up to 70 °C. Conductivity obeys Jonscher's power law as seen at different temperatures. Activation energy of the crystal was found to be 2.05 eV.     

Investigations of structural defects,crystalline perfection,metallic impurity concentration and optical quality of flat-top KDP crystal

KDP crystal grown using flat-top technique has been characterized using X-ray and optical techniques with the aim of correlating the defects structure and impurity concentration in the crystal with its optical properties. Crystallographic defects were investigated using X-ray topography revealing linear and arc like chains of dislocations and to conclude that defects do not originate from the flat-top part of the crystal. Etching was performed to quantify dislocation defects density. The crystalline perfection of the crystal was found to be high as the FWHM of the rocking curves measured at several locations was consistently low 6–9 arc s. The concentration of Fe metallic impurity quantified using X-ray fluorescence technique was approximately 5 times lower in the flat-top part which falls in pyramidal growth sector as compared to the region near to the seed which lies in prismatic sector. The spectrophotometric characterization for plates cut normal to different crystallographic directions in the flat-top potassium dihydrogen phosphate (FT-KDP) crystal was performed to understand the influence of metallic impurity distribution and growth sectors on the optical transmittance. The transmittance of the FT-KDP crystal at 1064 nm and its higher harmonics (2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th) was determined from the measured spectra and the lower transmission in the UV region was attributed to increased absorption by Fe metallic impurity at these wavelengths. The results are in agreement with the results obtained using X-ray fluorescence and X-ray topography. Birefringence and Mach–Zehnder interferometry show that except for the region near to the seed crystal the optical homogeneity of the entire crystal was good. The laser-induced damage threshold (LDT) values are in the range 2.4–3.9 GW/cm². The LDT of the plate taken from the flat-top region is higher than that from the bottom of the crystal, indicating that the flat-top technique has good optical quality and is comparable to those reported using rapid growth technique. The results indicate that the structural defects, crystalline quality and impurity concentration have a correlation with the optical properties of the FT-KDP crystal.     

Structure and optical properties of Li2Ga2GeS6 nonlinear crystal

Structure and optical properties of new nonlinear crystal – Li₂Ga₂GeS₆ single crystal of optical quality, grown by the Bridgman technique were studied. The data on transmission, Raman scattering, luminescence emission, excitation and thermal quenching as well as thermostimulated luminescence are presented. Fundamental absorption edge is determined by the direct allowed electronic transitions: The values of optical band gap are estimated. Absorption band at 8.0 μm is due to S–S vibrations. Features in photoluminescence spectra are associated with excitons: both free (narrow line at 371 nm) and self-trapped ones (broad bands at 596, 730 and 906 nm). Spontaneous emission in the 80–170 K range, both at crystal heating and cooling, is typical of pyroelectrics: This confirms the absence of symmetry center in Li₂Ga₂GeS₆ and an opportunity of laser frequency nonlinear conversion.