Raman and IR spectroscopic study of a nonlinear optical crystal, La2CaB10O19

• Polarized Raman and IR-reflectance measurements were performed.
• Assignments of all observed modes have been proposed.
• Large LO–TO splitting was observed for BO stretching modes.

A non-centrosymmetric, polar La2CaB10O19 single crystal was characterized by polarized Raman scattering and polarized infrared reflection spectroscopy at room temperature. Assignment of the observed modes to the respective vibrations of its structural units has been proposed. Based on these results, the LO–TO splitting has been determined for the observed modes. Thus, large LO–TO splitting was observed for BO stretching modes, whereas the lower wavenumber modes assigned to bending and lattice modes exhibited small splitting. Our results also show that the LCB crystal is promising SRS-active material for use as a Raman laser frequency converter.