Unidirectional Growth and Characterization of NLO Crystal: Potassium Dihydrogen Orthophosphate

A System is reported for evaporation controlled crystal growth of potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate (KDP) from aqueous solution by the Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR) method. KDP (KH 2 PO 4 ) single crystal of 10 x 3 x 4 mm 3 has been grown at an average rate of 5 mm/day from the point seed in a glass crystallizer. The growth rate formula is derived for the SR method. The grown crystals were characterized by UV-Vis, Laser Raman, Second harmonic generation efficiency X-ray diffraction and FTIR studies. The SR method is an efficien t method to grow crystals of good optical quality