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.     

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.     

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.     

Dielectric characterization of gadolinium tartrate trihydrate crystals

Single crystals of gadolinium tartrate trihydrate have been grown by gel diffusion technique. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the crystals belong to the tetragonal system with non-centrosymmetric space group. The dielectric constant, dielectric loss and ac conductivity have been measured as a function of frequency in the range 1 kHz–5 MHz and temperature range 20–300 °C. The dielectric constant increases with temperature, attains a peak around 240 °C and then decreases as the temperature exceeds 240 °C. The dielectric anomaly at 240 °C is suggested to be due to phase transition brought about in the material, which is further supported by the thermal studies. The variation of ac conductivity with temperature has been measured and the material is suggested to show protonic conductivity.     

Synthesis,crystal growth and characterization of novel semiorganic nonlinear optical crystal: Dichlorobis(l-proline)zinc(II)

Single crystals of the semiorganic material, dichlorobis(l-proline)zinc(II) (DCBPZ), were grown from aqueous solution. The grown crystals were tested by single crystal X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive spectrometry, FT-IR, UV–vis and TG–DTA. The structural prefection of the grown crystals has been analyzed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) rocking curve measurements. The dielectric and mechanical behavior of the specimen was also studied. The SHG efficiency of DCBPZ is three times greater than that of KDP. Measuring transmittance of DCBPZ permitted the calculation of the refractive index n, the extinction coefficient K and both the real ?_r and imaginary ?_i components of the dielectric constant as functions of photon energy. The optical band gap of DCBPZ is 4.8 eV.     

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.     

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.     

Synthesis and non linear optical properties of new inorganic–organic hybrid material: 4-Benzylpiperidinium sulfate monohydrate

Single crystals of 4-benzyl-piperidine sulfate monohydrate were grown by slow evaporation method at room temperature. The synthesized compound was characterized by means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy, UV–visible and photoluminescence studies. The title compound crystallises at room temperature in the non centrosymmetric space group P2₁2₁2₁.The recorded UV–visible spectrum show good transparency in the visible region and indicates a non-zero value of the first Hyperpolarizability. Photoluminescence spectrum shows a broad and intense band at 440 nm and indicates that the crystal emits blue fluorescence. We also report DFT calculations of the electric dipole moments (μ), Polarizability (α), the static first Hyperpolarizability (β) and HOMO–LUMO analysis of the title compound was theoretically investigated by GAUSSIAN 03 package. The calculated static first Hyperpolarizability is equal to 6.4022 × 10⁻³¹ esu. The results show that 4-benzyl-piperidine sulfate monohydrate crystal might have important non linear optical behavior and can be a potential non linear optical material of interest.     

Growth of CuInTe2 single crystals by iodine transport and their characterization

The single crystals with stoichiometry close to 1:1:2 of CuInTe₂ (CIT) have been grown by chemical vapor transport (CVT) technique using iodine as the transporting agent at different growth temperatures. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies have confirmed the chalcopyrite structure for the grown crystals and the volume of unit cell is found to be the same for the crystals grown at different conditions. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis of CIT single crystals grown shows almost the same stoichiometric compositions. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis reveals kink, step and layer patterns on the surface of CIT single crystals depending on the growth temperatures. The optical absorption spectra of as-grown CIT single crystals grown at different conditions show that they have same band gap energies (1.0405 eV). Raman spectra exhibit a high intensity peak of A₁ mode at 123 cm^?1. Annealed at 473 K in nitrogen atmosphere for 40 h CIT single crystals have higher hole mobility (105.6 cm²V^?1s^?1₎ and hole concentration (23.28 × 10¹⁷ cm^?3) compared with values of hole mobility (63.69 cm² V^?1 s^?1) and hole concentration (6.99 × 10¹⁵ cm^?3) of the as-grown CIT single crystals.     

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.     

Thermal and spectroscopic studies of as-grown l-arginine hydrochloride monohydrate crystals

Single crystals of l-arginine hydrochloride monohydrate (LAHCl) were successfully grown at ambient temperature (28.5°C) from its aqueous solution (pH=5.4) by slow evaporation as well as by slow cooling methods.The as-grown crystal is of dimensions 2.8×4.5×1.2 cm³. Studies on the structural, chemical and thermal properties of the crystal have been carried out on the basis of X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen (CHN) analysis, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and differential thermal analysis (DTA) measurements. IR absorption bands indicate the mode of vibrations of different molecular groups present in LAHCl. TG-DTA analysis gives an idea about the thermal behaviour of LAHCl and ruled out the possibility of structural changes independent of mass changes.     

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.     

Growth,thermal and optical properties of Yb:GdYAl3(BO3)4 crystal

Single crystal of Yb:GdYAl₃(BO₃)₄(Yb:GdYAB) has been grown by the flux method. The structure of Yb:GdYAB crystal has been determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The experiment show that the crystal has the same structure as that of YAl₃(BO₃)₄ crystal and its unit cell constants have been measured to be a = 9.30146 Å, c = 7.24164 Å, Vol = 542.59 Å³. The absorption and fluorescence spectrum of Yb:GdYAl₃(BO₃)₄ crystal have also been measured at room temperature. In the absorption spectra, there are two absorption bands at 938 nm and 974 nm, respectively, which is suitable for InGaAs diode laser pumping. In the fluorescence spectra, there are two fluorescence peaks at 992 and 1040 nm. The thermal properties of Yb:GdYAl₃(BO₃)₄ crystal have been studied for the first time. The thermal expansion coefficient along c-axis is almost 5.4 times larger than that along a-axis. The specific heat of the crystal has been measured to be 0.77 J/g °C at room temperature. The calculated thermal conductivity is 5.26 Wm⁻¹ K⁻¹ along a-direction.     

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.     

Structure–property relation and third order nonlinear optical absorption study of a new organic crystal: 1-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(2-fluorophenyl) prop-2-en-1-one

A new third order centrosymmetric organic crystal: 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(2-fluorophenyl) prop-2-en-1-one (2FRDP) belonging to chalcone family has been synthesized and characterized by FTIR, CHNS and UV–Visible spectroscopy. Single crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that compound crystallizes in C2/c monoclinic space group. The X-ray powder diffraction of the crystal was carried out and hkl values are indexed for the diffraction pattern using mercury software. UV–Visible spectrum showed that 2FRDP is transparent in the entire visible region. The thermal stability of the grown 2FRDP crystal was analyzed by thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The dielectric study revealed that, 2FRDP possesses low dielectric constant and dielectric loss at high frequency. The third order nonlinear optical absorption and the optical limiting experiment were carried out using open aperture Z-scan data using an Nd:YAG laser operating at the wavelength 532 nm.     

Enhanced dielectric properties of Mn doped Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Pure and 2 mol% Mn doped Ba_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃ (BST) thin films have been deposited on La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ (LSMO) coated single-crystal (001) oriented LaAlO₃ substrates using pulsed-laser deposition technique. The bilayer films of BST and LSMO were epitaxially grown in pure single-oriented perovskite phases for both samples, and an enhanced crystallization effect in the BST film was obtained by the addition of Mn, which were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and in situ reflective high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) analyses. The dielectric properties of the BST thin films were measured at 100 kHz and 300 K with a parallel-plate capacitor configuration. The results have revealed that an appropriate concentration acceptor doping is very effective to increase dielectric tunability, and to reduce loss tangent and leakage current of BST thin films. The figure-of-merit (FOM) factor value increases from 11 (undoped) to 40 (Mn doped) under an applied electric field of 200 kV/cm. The leakage current density of the BST thin films at a negative bias field of 200 kV/cm decreases from 2.5 × 10^− 4 A/cm² to 1.1 × 10^− 6 A/cm² by Mn doping. Furthermore, a scanning-tip microwave near-field microscope has been employed to study the local microwave dielectric properties of the BST thin films at 2.48 GHz. The Mn doped BST film is more homogeneous, demonstrating its more potential applications in tunable microwave devices.     

Investigating optical,electrical, and mechanical traits of thiourea admixtured KDP single crystals to explore NLO device applications

The 0.5 and 1 mol% thiourea “mixed” potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals have been developed by conventional slow solution evaporation method. The crystallographic parameters of grown crystals have been determined by employing single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. The functional groups of grown crystals were successfully identified by means of FTIR spectral analysis. The optical transmittance is 79%, 84%, and 89% for KDP, 0.5 mol thiourea mixed KDP, and 1 mol thiourea mixed KDP crystal. The energy band gap (E_g) of KDP, 0.5 mol thiourea mixed KDP, and 1 mol thiourea mixed KDP crystal is 3.71 eV, 3.61 eV, and 3.75 eV, respectively. The Kurtz–Perry test has been employed to determine the SHG efficiency and SHG efficiency of 0.5 and 1 mol thiourea mixed KDP crystal is 2.09 and 2.22 times superior to KDP crystal. Effect of thiourea mixing on hardness properties of KDP crystal have been scrutinized using the Vickers microhardness studies. The frequency dependent dielectric behavior of grown crystals has been analyzed at room temperature.

     

Growth and Faraday rotation characteristics of TbVO4 crystals

TbVO₄ (TV) single crystals with dimensions of 18 × 18 × 16 mm³ were grown by Czochralski method under different atmosphere. XPS studies revealed the presence of V⁴⁺ and Tb⁴⁺ in TV crystal grown at 99.9% N₂ atmosphere, which caused a wide absorption peak centered at 950 nm in the transmission spectrum. TV crystal grown at 80% N₂ + 20% CO₂ mixed atmosphere has high transmittance at 600–1500 nm waveband. Faraday rotation spectra of TV crystal were measured. TV crystal has a larger Faraday rotation than terbium gallium garnet (TGG) crystal at 500–1500 nm waveband.     

Studies on the nonlinear optical single crystal: Ammonium d,l-tartrate (C4H9NO6)

The organic nonlinear optical material ammonium d,l-tartrate single crystal has been successfully grown by slow evaporation solution technique (SEST). The grown crystals were characterized by single crystal XRD and the lattice parameters have been confirmed. The structural perfection of the grown crystal was analyzed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction measurement. The optical transmittance spectrum shows that the material has a good optical transparency in the entire visible region with the UV cut-off wavelength at 234 nm. Thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetric measurements were performed to study the thermal properties of the grown crystal. Chemical etching studies were attempted to determine the dislocation density of the grown crystal. Mechanical behavior was assessed using Vickers hardness testing carried out on (0 0 1) crystallographic plane. The Kurtz–Perry powder SHG technique confirms the NLO property of the grown crystal and the efficiency of AMT crystal was found to be 1.3 times that of standard KDP crystal.     

Measurements of transport properties of TlGaSe2 crystals

TlGaSe₂ single crystals were grown by modified Bridgman method. The crystals were identified structurally by X-ray diffraction. Measurements of electrical conductivity and Hall effect were performed in the range (200–492 K) and (163–602 K) for thermoelectric power (TEP) measurements. Anisotropic nature of the layered TlGaSe₂ crystal was investigated. Hall effect and thermoelectric power measurements revealed the extrinsic p-type conduction in the low temperature range of the study. The analysis of the temperature-dependent electrical conductivity and carrier concentration reveal that the acceptor level is located at 0.2 eV above the valence band of TlGaSe₂. From the obtained experimental data, the main characteristic parameters of the crystals have been estimated. Energy gap and acceptor concentration were 2.23 eV and 9.6 × 10¹³ cm^?3 respectively.