Single crystal growth of ninhydrin by unidirectional Sankaranarayanan–Ramasamy (SR) method by using a glass ampoule for nonlinear optical applications

Abstract

An organic nonlinear optical single crystal of ninhydrin was grown by Sankaranarayanan–Ramasamy (SR) method by using specially designed glass ampoule. The good quality seed crystal has been prepared by conventional solution growth technique using double distilled water as the solvent. The lattice dimension of the grown specimen was identified from the powder X-ray diffraction analysis and found that it crystallized in a monoclinic system with non-centrosymmetric space group P2₁. The presence of functional groups was examined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis and it was found that there was no incorporation of foreign elements during crystallization. The surface defects were assessed by optical microscope and the dielectric constant and dielectric loss were carried out by LCR meter. Laser damaged threshold, relative second harmonic generation (SHG) and phase matching were measured by using a high intensity Nd:YAG laser as a source having the wavelength of 1064 nm. Its thermal stability has been assessed by TG–DTA and specific heat measurements with respect to different temperatures. The optical studies show that the crystal has transmittance ability of light in the entire visible region.