Z-scan and mechanical analysis of 2-phenyl benzimidazole for optical switching application

Abstract

The slow evaporation solution growth technique is used to grow single crystals of 2-phenylbenzimidazole (2PBMZ). The crystal belongs to the monoclinic system with space group C2/c, which is revealed through the single crystal XRD. The cutoff wavelength and optical band gap energy of the 2PBMZ crystal were observed at 568 nm and 1.96 ev respectively. The Vickers (Hv) hardness number, yield strength and stiffness constant are calculated, which is found to increase with the applied load. The Z-scan technique with He–Ne laser (632.8 nm) has been used to study the third-order nonlinear optical property of 2PBMZ crystal.