Growth, perfection and properties of the organic non-linear optical crystal, 4-aminobenzophenone (ABP)

Abstract

4-Aminobenzophenone (ABP) has been purified and grown as a single crystal using both melt and solution growth techniques. Solution growth fromN,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) yielded the most perfect crystals in sizes up to 25×20×40 mm. Due to the development with time of a pink impurity in DMF solutions all ABP crystals grown from DMF solution incorporated this impurity in the {001} sectors. This could be minimised by adjusting the growth conditions to reduce the development of these sectors. Investigation showed that residual quantities of this impurity in the crystals had little influence on the crystal properties. The growth mechanism is discussed from the viewpoints of the structures of the molecule and the crystal and their relationship to the external crystal morphology. The perfection of the crystal was defined by microscopy and by section and projection X-ray topography. The relationship between the perfection of the crystal and its linear and non-linear optical performance was investigated.