Synthesis and characterisation of transition metal doped l-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate single crystal by conventional and unidirectional method and its comparative study

Abstract

Zn2+-doped l-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate, a semi-organic non-linear optical (NLO) crystal was grown by conventional slow evaporation solution technique (SEST) and unidirectional method. By implementing unidirectional method, Zn2+-doped l-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate single crystals of 15 mm diameter and 45 mm length was grown within a period of 15 days. The maximum growth rate in unidirectional method was 3 mm day− 1.The crystal structure has been confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement. High-resolution XRD studies reveal the crystalline perfection of Zn2+: l-Cys·HCl·H2O crystals grown by SEST and unidirectional methods as well. FTIR confirms the various functional groups present in the grown crystal. The grown crystals were also characterised by dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss, thermal analysis and optical transparency. Second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency is 1.6 times of KDP as assessed by Kurtz technique.