Growth and characterization of nonlinear optical crystal - Semicarbazide Picrate

Good-optical-quality single crystals of Semicarbazide Picrate (SP), a new organic charge transfer molecular complex salt, were successfully synthesized and grown by the slow evaporation solution growth technique. The grown crystal is analyzed by various instrumentation techniques. The structure of the grown crystal as determined by single crystal XRD diffraction analysis. The presence of functional groups in the SP crystals is confirmed by FT-IR vibrational analysis. The optical transparency has been studied using UV-vis spectrophotometer. The relative second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency measurements reveal that the SP crystals is a efficient nonlinear optical (NLO) material having an activity 1.4 times as that of the reference material potassium dihydrogen phosphate. The TG/DTA thermal analyses reveal the purity of the sample and no decomposition is observed up to the melting point. The mechanical properties of the crystal are examined by Vicker's microhardness test. The dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss and AC conductivity of the crystal are measured at various temperatures.