Structural, optical, thermal, dielectric and Z-scan study on novel (2E)-1-(4-aminophenyl)-3-(4-benzyloxyphenyl)-prop-2-en-1-one (APBPP) chalcone crystal for nonlinear optical applications

Abstract

Abstract (2E)-1-(4-aminophenyl)-3-(4-benzyloxyphenyl)-prop-2-en-1-one (APBPP) was synthesized by base-catalyzed Claisen-Schmidt condensation method and crystals of APBPP were harvested using slow evaporation solution growth technique. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis depicts that the grown APBPP has crystallized in the monoclinic crystal system with the P21/n space group. The presence of various functional groups in the host material was confirmed using the FT-IR spectrum. The structural elucidation and the presence of major and minor functional groups were ratified by using the H1-NMR spectrum. The optical absorption study revealed that the grown crystalline chalcone exhibits a low cut-off wavelength at ~ 450 nm. The thermal stability, material decomposition and melting point of the grown crystal was determined using TG/DTA curve. The dependence of dielectric loss and dielectric constant of APBPP on frequency for selected temperatures are discussed. Conductivity studies in the order of 10−4 S/m with respect to temperature showcases the ability of the material into device fabrication. Photoluminescence study confirmed the potentiality of APBPP crystal for opto-electronic device applications. In addition, the electronic contribution of APBPP towards first-order hyperpolarizability was computed theoretically at the B3LYP level. Evaluation of APBPP as an effective third-order nonlinear optical material was performed by the Z-scan technique using the continuos wave (CW) laser at 632.8 nm. The experimental and theoretical investigations on NLO (Non linear Optical) studies suggest that the grown amino crystal is 115 times better than that of urea and exhibits reasonably high results than other chalcone derivatives reported, enabling the crystal APBPP as a promising candidate for nonlinear optical applications.