Crystal growth, structural and optical characterization of a semi-organic single crystal for frequency conversionapplications

Single crystals of semi-organic l-histidine hydrobromide have been grown by slow evaporation technique from a mixture of l-histidine and hydrobromic acid in aqueous solution at ambient temperature. From high-resolution X-ray diffraction analysis, the crystalline perfection of the grown crystal has been studied. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectral analysis, Thermo-Gravimetry (TG), Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) and hardness test have been employed to characterize the as-grown crystals. The UV cutoff wavelength of the grown crystal is below 300 nm and has a wide transparency window, which is suitable for second harmonic generation of laser in the blue region. Nonlinear optical characteristics have been studied using Q switched Nd:YAG laser (λ=1064 nm). The second harmonic generation conversion efficiency of the grown crystals confirms their suitability for frequency conversion applications.