Growth and characterization of large size ADP single crystals and the effect of glycine on their growth and properties

• Bulk size crystal of glycine doped ADP has been grown with higher growth rate.
• High mechanical hardness and laser damage threshold are achieved.
• Crystalline perfection is maintained in the entire crystal.
• Higher piezoelectric charge coefficient and SHG efficiency has been obtained.

80 × 50 × 50 mm3 size 1 mol% of glycine added ADP single crystals have been grown by ACRT technique. The grown crystals have been subjected to powder XRD, FTIR, UV–Vis, HRXRD, TG/DTA, microhardness, laser damage threshold, piezoelectric, dielectric and SHG studies. The crystallinity and the functional groups are confirmed by powder XRD and FTIR spectroscopy. Good transparency in the entire visible region which is an essential requirement for a nonlinear optical crystal is observed for the grown crystals. The structural perfection of the grown crystal has been analyzed by high resolution X-ray diffraction rocking curve measurements. Compared to pure ADP crystal higher hardness was observed from the Vickers hardness studies. Shift in the decomposition temperature has been observed from TG/DTA. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss were measured for the grown crystals for different frequencies and temperatures. Significant piezoelectric charge coefficient has been noted for the glycine doped crystals. Laser damage threshold value has been determined using Nd:YAG laser. Powder SHG measurements show the suitability of the ingot for nonlinear optical applications.