Structural, thermal and optical properties of a semiorganic nonlinear optical single crystal: Glycine zinc sulphate

Glycine zinc sulphate salt was synthesized and the solubility and metastable zonewidth were estimated from the aqueous solution. Single crystals of glycine zinc sulphate were grown by solvent evaporation method from aqueous solution. Grown crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectral analyses. The range and percentage of optical transmission was ascertained by recording UV–vis–NIR spectrum. Thermal properties of the crystal were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis. Microhardness study was carried out on (0 1 −1) face of the grown crystal. Its powder second harmonic generation efficiency was measured using Nd:YAG laser and the value was observed to be 0.7 times that of potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate.