Studies on the synthesis, growth, and characterization of 2-cyanopyridinium salicylate single crystals for nonlinear optical applications

Abstract

By employing methanol as the solvent in slow solvent evaporation method, a new nonlinear optical organic single crystal of 2-cyanopyridinium salicylate (2-CPSC) was grown. The lattice parameters of the 2-CPSC crystals were found out to be a = 7.7764(9) Å, b = 12.3938(17) Å, c = 12.3685(18) Å, and β = 94.44º using single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) analysis. The confirmation of crystalline nature was done by powder XRD analysis. The 2-CPSC crystal's chemical composition and functional groups were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectral analysis. The optical study was done by ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV–Vis-NIR) spectral analysis showing a cutoff wavelength of 338 nm. Studies on the grown 2-CPSC crystal's dielectric and Vicker's microhardness were also conducted. The linear dependence of photocurrent with the applied electric field was revealed for the grown crystals. The 2-CPSC crystal's third-order nonlinearity was investigated by the single-beam Z-scan technique using a continuous He-Ne laser. The open aperture Z-scan reveals the two-photo absorption mechanism and the closed aperture Z-scan study reveals the positive nonlinearity of the 2-CPSC crystals with third order susceptibility value of χ3=2.6763×10−6(esu). The density functional theory (DFT) method of B3LYP level with the 6–31++G(d,p) basis set was used for different quantum chemical calculations like geometry optimization, natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, mulliken atomic charge, and molecular electrostatic potential (MEP). The higher nonlinearity of the 2-CPSC can be a potential alternative for commercially available potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) and candidate for its application in nonlinear optical devices like optical limiting and optical switching.