Gamma irradiation effect on optical and dielectric properties of potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals

The effect of Co⁶⁰ gamma-ray irradiation on potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals is investigated at doses ranging from 1 kGy to 100 kGy with different diagnostics, including UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, DC electrical conductivity, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and Doppler-broadening spectroscopy. The optical absorption spectra show a wide absorption band between 250 and 400 nm after γ-irradiation and its intensity increases with the increasing irradiation dose. The simulation of radiation defects show that this absorption is assigned to the formation of substitutional impurity defects due to Al, Mg ions substituting for K ions. The fluorescence peak at 355 nm blue shifts after irradiation. The fluorescence intensity is observed to increase with the increasing irradiation dose. The positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy is used to probe the evolution of vacancy-type defects in potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystal. The variation of size and concentration of vacancy-type defects with the different irradiation dose is investigated. The Doppler-broadening spectroscopy gives direct evidence of the formation of irradiation-induced defects. The dc electrical conductivity of γ-irradiated potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals increases with the increasing irradiation dose when the dose is less than 10 kGy, whereas keeps constant at high irradiation dose of 100 kGy. The increase of electrical conductivity is associated with the increase of the proton defect concentration in the crystal. A possible explanation about the change of proton defect concentration with irradiation dose is presented.     

Synthesis,structural, topographical,linear and nonlinear optical,electrical and mechanical properties of Bisthiourea zinc acetate single crystal

Nonlinear optical material Bisthiourea Zinc Acetate (BTZA) was synthesized by slow evaporation solution growth technique. The grown crystals were characterised by Single crystal XRD and powder XRD studies. The presence of functional groups and the co-ordination of metal ions to Thiourea were confirmed by FTIR analysis. The UV-vis –NIR spectrum shows a low absorption in the entire visible and IR region. Optical band gap of the grown crystal was found to be 4.18 eV. The photoluminescence studies carried out and the crystal has blue emission. The Refractive Index was determined experimentally for the first time and found to be 1.508 for the incident wavelength of 632.8 nm. The second harmonic generation efficiency was determined using Kurtz and Perry powder technique and it was 0.7 times than that of the KDP crystal. Thermal properties were studied by thermo gravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis. Dielectric studies were carried out at different frequencies for various temperatures. The mechanical behaviour of the grown crystal was studied using Vickers micro hardness tester. The growth mechanism and surface features are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM).     

Effect of laser irradiation on structural,electrical and optical properties of SnO2 films

Thin films of SnO₂ were prepared using a spray pyrolysis technique. Films were irradiated with Nd:YAG laser pulses of various energy densities (2–50 mJ cm^–2) with varying number of pulses from 1–50. X-ray diffraction studies were made to investigate the structural changes due to laser irradiation. An improvement in crystallinity and an increase in grain size were observed in laser-irradiated films. Hall coefficient and Hall mobility studies were made in the temperature range 77–300 K for the as-grown as well as laser-irradiated films. An increase in mobility and a decrease in carrier concentration were observed in the films after laser irradiation. Optical transmission studies revealed that the refractive index increased as a result of laser irradiation.     

Growth, structural, optical, thermal and mechanical properties of glycine zinc chloride single crystal

The nonlinear optical single crystals of glycine zinc chloride were grown by the slow cooling method from aqueous solution. The title compound was synthesized and purified by repeated recrystallization process. Grown crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction, FT-IR and FT-Raman spectral analysis. The range and percentage of optical transmission were ascertained by recording UV-Vis-NIR spectrum. Thermal properties were investigated by DTA and TGA analyses. Its second harmonic generation relative efficiency was measured by Kurtz and Perry powder technique using Nd:YAG laser and was observed to be 0.5 times that of potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate. Its mechanical hardness was estimated by Vickers microhardness method.     

Effects of hydrogen annealing on the structural, optical and electrical properties of indium-doped zinc oxide films

Indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) films were fabricated by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. The effects of hydrogen annealing on the structural, optical and electrical properties of the IZO films were investigated. The hydrogen annealing may deteriorate the crystallinity of the films. The surfaces of the films would be damaged when the annealing temperature was higher than 350 °C. After the annealing, the surface roughness of the films would decrease, and high transparency of 80–90% in the visible and near-infrared wavelength would be kept. Meanwhile, the resistivity decreased from 1.25 × 10⁻³ Ωcm of the deposited films to 6.70 × 10⁻⁴ Ωcm of the annealed films. The work function of the IZO films may be modulated between 4.6 and 4.98 eV by varying the hydrogen annealing temperature and duration.     

Influence of carboxylic acids on structural,optical, thermal,and electrical properties of ferroelectric glycine phosphite single crystals

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - Glycine phosphite (GPI), a semi-organic nonlinear optical NLO material, has been synthesized at room temperature. Slow evaporation method...     

Unidirectional growth,structural, optical and mechanical properties of LTA crystal

Nonlinear optical amino acid single crystal of l-tartaric acid was successfully grown by unidirectional Sankaranarayanan–Ramasamy method under ambient conditions for the first time. The grown single crystal was subjected to different characterization analyses in order to find out its suitability for device fabrication. The crystal system and lattice parameters were determined from the powder X-ray diffraction analysis. The crystalline perfection was evaluated using high-resolution X-ray diffractometry. It is evident from the optical absorption study that crystal has excellent transmission in the entire visible region with its lower cut off wavelength around 220 nm. The mechanical properties of the grown crystals were studied using Vickers microhardness tester.     

Studies on the growth, structural, optical, mechanical properties of 8-hydroxyquinoline single crystal by vertical Bridgman technique

Single crystal of organic nonlinear optical material, 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) of dimension 52 mm (length) × 12 mm (dia.) was grown from melt using vertical Bridgman technique. The crystal system of the material was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction analysis. The crystalline perfection of the grown crystal was examined by high-resolution X-ray diffraction study. Low angular spread around 400″ of the diffraction curve and the low full width half maximum values show that the crystalline perfection is reasonably good. The recorded photoluminescence spectrum shows that the material is suitable for blue light emission. Optical transmittance for the UV and visible region was measured and mechanical strength was estimated from Vicker's microhardness test along the growth face of the grown crystal.     

Investigation on crystallinity and optical properties of l-tartaric acid single crystal at dynamic shocked conditions

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - In this article, the authors demonstrate the experimental findings of the effect of dynamic shock waves on the crystallographic structural...     

Annealing effect on structural, optical and electrical properties of pure and Mg doped tin oxide thin films

This study describes the effect of annealing at different temperatures (400–600 °C) on structural, optical and electrical behaviors of pure and Mg doped tin oxide thin films grown on the glass substrate by electron beam evaporation technique. The transformation of tetragonal to orthorhombic form due to annealing, introduced a change in the optical and electrical properties of pure and Mg doped tin oxide thin films. X-ray diffraction studies or analysis revealed the phase transformation and change in the crystalline size with increase in the annealing temperature. The morphology and roughness of the thin films were studied by Atomic force microscopy. Optical band gap increased with annealing temperature confirms the improvements of crystallinity. The quality of thin films transparency was investigated by UV/Vis-spectroscopy. Photoluminescence of pure and Mg doped tin oxide thin films shows two extra peaks one at 486 nm and other at 538 nm is due to the crystal defect created as a result of annealing temperature. These peaks became stronger and shifted to longer wavelength with increasing the annealing temperature. The complex plot (Nyquist plot) showed the data point laying on two semicircles and the resistance of grains and grain boundaries increases with the increase in annealing temperature for both pure and Mg doped tin oxide thin films.     

Synthesis, growth, structural, optical, photoconductivity and dielectric studies on potassium p-nitrophenolate dihydrate: A new semiorganic nonlinear optical material

Potassium p-nitrophenolate dihydrate, a potential semiorganic nonlinear optical material, has been synthesized and grown by slow evaporation technique at room temperature. Single crystal X-ray analysis presents an unprecedented bonding between ions in the crystal with acentric structure. In the new structural investigation, p-nitrophenolate instead of producing bond between phenolic O⁻ and K⁺, it seems to put nitro group in bonding with the metal ion. Optical absorption shows excellent transmission in the entire visible and near-infrared region. Room temperature photocurrent, transport properties are carried out in order to enhance the application for second harmonic generation and opto-electronic devices. Dielectric constant is found to be independent at higher frequencies. The crystal possesses prominent positive photoconduction in the presence of photoactive centers formed with trap energy level. The nonlinear optical activity is confirmed by Kurtz powder test.     

Characterization of optical, electrical and structural properties of silverphthalocyanine thin films

Silverphthalocyanine thin films are deposited on to glass substrates by thermal evaporation technique. Optical data have been obtained from both absorption and reflectivity spectra over the wavelength range 350–900 nm. The absorption coefficient α and extinction coefficient k are estimated from the spectrum. The mechanism of optical absorption follows the rule of direct transition. Using α and k, the refractive index and the dielectric constants are determined. Electrical conductivity studies are done at different substrate temperatures and using the Arrhenius plot the activation energy in the intrinsic region and impurity region is estimated. From the X-ray diffractograms of AgPc thin films subjected to heat treatments the variation of grain size is also studied. The scanning electron microscopy images are taken to study the surface morphology of the films. Silver phthalocyanine thin film is expected to find application in the fabrication of organic transistors and LED devices.     

Effect of thickness on the structural, electrical and optical properties of ZnO films

A series of ZnO films of different thickness have been deposited on glass substrates using sol-gel technique by varying the number of spin coatings and the effect of film thickness on the structural, electrical and optical properties have been investigated. The XRD results indicate that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the (0 0 2) diffraction peak and the strain along c-axis are decreased as the film is grown up to a thickness of 300 nm. Above 300 nm, the strain again becomes appreciable. The surface morphology shows that the grains become more uniform and bigger in size as the film thickness increases. Electrical result shows that although ZnO film with thickness of around 260 nm has the highest resistivity but is better for current conduction. The excitonic nature in the absorption spectrum becomes prominent for a film with thickness of around 260 nm. The band gap increases and then decreases as the film grows thicker.     

Investigation of structural,optical, and thermal properties of 2-amino-4,6-dimethylpyrimidine benzoic acid (2APB) single crystal for non-linear optical (NLO) applications

The 2-amino-4,6-dimethylpyrimidine benzoic acid (2APB) single crystal has been successfully grown by the slow evaporation method by using water as a solvent. The single-crystal X-Ray diffraction (SXRD) analysis gives knowledge about the structure and morphology of the 2APB crystal. The Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) pattern of grinded 2APB crystal was compared with standard CIF file and the peaks were indexed with their corresponding miller indices (hkl). The crystalline perfection of the grown 2APB single crystal was analysed using high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) measurement. The various functional groups and their vibrational assignments were studied using the Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum analysis. The 2APB crystal has a lower cut-off wavelength of 325 nm, which is evident from the UV–visible–NIR analysis. The defects and etch pit density of 2APB crystal were examined using chemical etching studies. The 2APB crystal was thermally stable up to 140 °C, which was evident from the thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The photoconductivity analysis was carried out to calculate the photo and dark current values. The laser damage threshold (LDT) value was determined using a 532 nm Nd:YAG laser in single shot mode. The third-order non-linear optical (NLO) susceptibility (χ⁽³⁾) value was calculated from Z-scan technique, which involves open and closed aperture measurements.

     

Bulk crystal growth,spectral, optical,thermal, electrical and third-order NLO properties of benzylidene malononitrile derivative single crystal: a promising material for nonlinear optical device applications

Bulk organic intramolecular charge transfer nonlinear optical single crystal of 2-(2,4-dimethoxybenzylidene) malononitrile (DMM) with the sizes of 24?×?18?×?13 mm³ have been successfully grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique at 35 °C using acetone as the solvent. The lattice parameters of the grown DMM crystal was evaluated by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The optical transmittance (T) data was taken from the well-polished crystal of DMM, and cut-off wavelength (λ?=?483 nm) was identified by UV–Vis spectral studies. Thermal stability and melting point (145.78 °C) were studied with TGA–DSC analysis. The low value of the dielectric constant (ε_r) of DMM suggests that the crystal can be used in the microelectronics industry. The laser-induced damage threshold experiment shows that the grown DMM bulk crystal possess an excellent resistance to laser radiation with a high threshold up to 1.75 GW/cm², much larger than those of several known organic and inorganic NLO materials. The DMM crystal exhibits positive optical non-linearity and reverse saturation absorption. It also exhibited a nonlinear refractive index (n₂) in the order of 10^?11 m²/W, a nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) in the order of 10^?5 m/W, third order non-linear susceptibility (χ⁽³⁾) in the order of 10^?5 esu and a second-order molecular hyperpolarizability (γ) in the order of 10^?33 esu. All the above results indicate that DMM has a potential application as a useful NLO candidate.     

Growth and characterization of a new semi-organic nonlinear optical sodium paranitrophenolate paranitrophenol dihydrate single crystal

A new semi-organic nonlinear optical sodium paranitrophenolate paranitrophenol dihydrate single crystal is grown successfully using methanol as solvent by slow evaporation technique to dimensions of 14 × 5 × 4 mm³ in a period of 7 days. The grown crystal is characterized by X-ray diffractometry and UV-Visible spectral analysis. X-ray diffraction data reveals that the crystal belongs to monoclinic system with space group C2. Optical absorption studies illustrate low absorption in the entire UV and Visible region. The second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency of the crystal measured by Kurtz's powder technique infers that the crystal has NLO coefficient 5 times greater than that of KDP crystal. Remarkable mechanical strength with the work hardening coefficient less than 2 and thermal stability up to 120 °C of the grown crystal is reported.     

Investigation on structural, electrical and optical properties of tungsten-doped tin oxide thin films

Tungsten-doped tin oxide (SnO₂:W) transparent conductive films were prepared on quartz substrates by pulsed plasma deposition method with a post-annealing. The structure, chemical states, electrical and optical properties of the films have been investigated with tungsten-doping content and annealing temperature. The lowest resistivity of 6.67 × 10^− 4 Ω cm was obtained, with carrier mobility of 65 cm² V^− 1 s^− 1 and carrier concentration of 1.44 × 10²⁰ cm^− 3 in 3 wt.% tungsten-doping films annealed at 800 °C in air. The average optical transmittance achieves 86% in the visible region, and approximately 85% in near-infrared region, with the optical band gap ranging from 4.05 eV to 4.22 eV.     

The effect of annealing on structural, electrical and optical properties of nanostructured ZnS/Ag/ZnS films

In this paper a ZnS/Ag/ZnS (ZAZ) nano-multilayer structure is designed theoretically and optimum thicknesses of ZnS and Ag layers are calculated at 35 and 17 nm, respectively. Several conductive transparent ZAZ nano-multilayer films are deposited on a glass substrate at room temperature by thermal evaporation method. Changes in the electrical, structural, and optical properties of samples are investigated with respect to annealing in air at different temperatures. High-quality nano-multilayer films with the sheet resistance of 8 Ω/sq and the optical transmittance of 83% at 200 °C annealing temperature are obtained. The figure of merit is applied on the ZAZ films and their performance as transparent conductive electrodes are determined.     

The effect of annealing on structural, electrical and optical properties of nanostructured ITO films prepared by e-beam evaporation

Tin doped indium oxide (ITO) thin films with composition of 9.42 wt% SnO₂ and 89.75 wt% In₂O_3, and impurities balanced on glass substrates at room temperature have been prepared by electron beam evaporation technique and then were annealed in air at different temperatures from 350 to 550 °C for 1 h. XRD pattern showed that increasing annealing temperature increased the crystallinity of thin films and at 550 °C high quality crystalline thin films with grain size of about 37 nm were obtained. Conductivity of ITO thin films was increased by increasing annealing temperature and conductivity obtained results in 350-550 °C temperature range were also excellently fitted in both Arrhenius-type and Davis-Mott variable-range hopping conductivity models. The UV-vis transmittance spectra were also confirmed that the annealing temperature has significant effect on the transparency of thin films. The highest transparency over the visible wavelength region of spectrum (93%) obtained at 550 °C on annealing temperature. It should be noted that this thin film was deposited on substrate at room temperature. This result obtained is equivalent with those values that have already been reported but with high-level (20 wt%) tin doped indium oxide thin films and also at 350 °C substrate temperature. The allowed direct band gap at the temperature range 350-550 °C was estimated to be in the range 3.85-3.97 eV. Band gap widening with an increase in annealing temperature was observed and is explained on the basis of Burstein-Moss shift. A comparison between the electron beam evaporation and other deposition techniques showed that the better figure of merit value can be obtained by the former technique. At the end we have compared our results with other techniques.