The effect of Cr3+doping on the crystalline perfection and optical properties of zinc tris(thiourea)sulfate, a nonlinear optical material

Investigation of structural, optical and mechanical behaviour of pure and Cr doped L-asparagine monohydrate single crystals

Pure and chromium (Cr) doped L-asparagine monohydrate (LAM) single crystals were grown by using evaporation controlled solution growth technique. XRD analysis confirmed the orthorhombic crystal system with space group P212121 of grown crystals. Cr-incorporation decreased the cell parameters and unit cell volume of the crystals. Intermolecular interactions were analysed through Hirshfeld and fingerprint studies. SEM analysis showed the appearance of pits on the smooth surface of pure crystal due to Cr-addition. UV-Vis analysis showed high transparency, low cut-off and direct band gap of 5.42 eV and 5.51 eV for pure and Cr doped crystals, respectively. Fundamental functional groups were identified by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The thermal stability and melting point of the crystals were investigated using TGA/DSC analysis. The dielectric constant for doped LAM was increased to 44 as compare to dielectric constant of pure crystal which was 32. Both crystals showed low dielectric loss, having values 0.04 and 0.006 for pure LAM and doped crystals, respectively. In Vickers microhardness test, Cr doping was found to change the nature of pure LAM crystal from 'soft' to 'hard' as Meyer's index changed from 2.48 to 1.24.

Dual-functional persistent luminescent nanoparticles with enhanced persistent luminescence and photocatalytic activity

NIR persistent luminescence and photocatalytic activity of the PLNPs were significantly and simultaneously improved via additional doping of Bi³⁺.

Effect of phenol red dye on monocrystal growth, crystalline perfection, and optical and dielectric properties of zinc (tris) thiourea sulfate

In this work, the growth of large size (∼25 × 29 × 5 mm and ∼25 × 24 × 6 mm) colorful single crystals of zinc (tris) thiourea sulfate (ZTS) in the presence of 0.05–2 wt% phenol red (PR) dye was achieved using a simple and low-cost technique. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the presence of PR dye, which is indicated by an enhancement of the Raman peak intensities, a shift in their position and the appearance of a few extra peaks. The quality of the grown crystals was assessed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction, which shows that the crystalline perfection of 1 wt% PR-dyed ZTS crystals is better than that of 2 wt% PR-dyed crystals. The measured UV–vis absorbance spectra show two additional, strong absorption bands at ∼430 and 558 nm in the dyed crystals, due to the presence of PR dye, along with a band at ∼276 nm which is present for all crystals but is slightly shifted for the dyed crystals. Photoluminescence spectra were recorded at two excitation wavelengths (λexc= 310 and 385 nm). The luminescence intensity is found to be enriched in dyed crystals, with some extra emission bands. An enhancement in the value of the dielectric constant and a.c. electrical conductivity was also observed in the dyed ZTS crystals.

Growth of a bulk-size single crystal of sulphamic acid by an in-house developed seed rotation solution growth technique and its characterization

A bulk sulphamic acid single crystal has been grown by a modified seed rotation technique. The lattice dimensions of the grown single crystal were confirmed using powder X-ray diffraction, and it was found that it crystallized in an orthorhombic structure with space groupPbca. The strain in the lattice was calculated by the Williamson–Hall equation. The crystalline perfection was examined by high-resolution X-ray diffraction and found to be extremely good (the single peak of the rocking curve having an FWHM of ∼8.0′′). The luminescence behaviour was recorded in the wavelength region between 400 and 630 nm using an Xe flash lamp which acts as an excitation source. The shock damage threshold was measured for the grown crystal in order to determine the mechanical capability of the title compound. The thermal parameter of sulphamic acid was calculated by photoacoustic spectroscopy.

Twisted intramolecular charge transfer and its contribution to the NLO activity of Diglycine Picrate: a vibrational spectroscopic study

Single crystals of Diglycine Picrate (DGLP) were grown by slow evaporation technique and the vibrational spectral analysis is carried out using FT Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy, supported by Density Functional Theoretical (DFT) computations to derive equilibrium geometry, vibrational wavenumbers and first hyperpolarizability. The vibrational spectra confirm the existence of NH3(+) in DGLP. The influence of Twisted Intramolecular Charge Transfer (TICT) caused by the strong ionic ground state hydrogen bonding between charged species making DGLP crystal to have the non-centrosymmetric structure has been discussed. The Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analysis confirms the occurrence of strong intermolecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond. The HOMO-LUMO energy gap and the first order hyperpolarizability were calculated and it supports the nonlinear optical activity of the Diglycine Picrate crystal.

A study of as-grown, poled and reduced Rh-doped KNbO3 single crystals by high-resolution X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, photoluminescence and dielectric measurements

As-grown and chemically reduced Rh-doped (1500 p.p.m.) KnbO3 single crystals grown by the Czochralski method have been characterized. Reduction of the grown crystals at different levels was carried out under a mixture of CO and CO2 gases as the crystals were grown with excess oxygen. The effect of reduction and poling on crystalline perfection was studied by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) using a multi-crystal X-ray diffractometer developed in-house. The diffraction curves of the as-grown, electrically poled, moderately reduced and heavily reduced single-crystal specimens show remarkable differences. The studies by HRXRD reveal that poling has some influence on the improvement of crystalline perfection, while chemical reduction has a great influence on crystalline perfection; at moderate reduction the crystal becomes nearly perfect, but when the reduction is very heavy the crystal quality decreases slightly, although it is still better than for unreduced samples. Asymmetry of the diffraction curves with respect to the peak position reveals that the as-grown specimens contain a high concentration of both vacancies and self-interstitials. After poling, the concentration of self-interstitial defects is lowered to some extent. When the specimen is moderately chemically reduced, the scattered intensity on both sides of the peak is greatly reduced, showing that the concentrations of both vacancies and interstitials are reduced to a great extent owing to chemical reduction. This clearly indicates that, as a result of the chemical reduction of oxygen in the crystal, crystalline perfection is enhanced significantly. However, under heavy chemical reduction, the number of vacancy defects is increased to a significant extent. Raman scattering, dielectric and photoluminescence studies also show interesting features, with excellent correlation with the degree of crystalline perfection influenced by the processes of reduction and poling.