Studies on semi-organic (C8H11NO)2[ZnCl4] single crystal for nonlinear optical (NLO) applications

Abstract Optically high quality metal-organic nonlinear optical (NLO) single crystals of bis(4-methoxybenzylammonium) tetrachloridozincate (4MBZ) have been harvested from the aqueous solution by solution growth technique. The single crystal X-ray diffraction (SXRD) results shows the grown 4MBZ crystal forms the monoclinic crystal system with space group of P21. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) pattern has been recorded in the 2θ range of 10–60° to confirm the various types of crystalline planes and phase purity. The Hirshfield surface on 4MBZ has been carried out to finding intermolecular interactions. From the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis, the functional groups were confirmed. The optical transparency and band gap energy of the crystal were studied by the UV-Vis NIR spectral studies. Resultant, the grown crystal has good optical transparency in the entire visible and near IR region. The grown 4MBZ crystal sample was subjected to Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential Scanning colorimetry analysis (DSC) were carried out to study the thermal behaviour. The chemical etching analyses was carried out to finding dislocation density. The nonlinear parameters such as nonlinear refractive index (n2), absorption coefficient (β) and third order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(3)) have been analyzed by Z-scan method using diode laser 532 nm.