Effects of 1,2-dichloroethane on the optical, thermal, mechanical and NLO behaviors of ADP crystals

The effects of 1,2-Dichloroethane (DCE) over a concentration range from 1 to 5 mol% on the optical absorption, hardness, thermal, microhardness behaviors and SHG efficiency of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) single crystals grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique have been investigated. The powder X-ray diffraction and FT-IR analyses indicate that the crystals undergo considerable stress as a result of doping and these also confirm the slight distortion of the structure of the crystal in the presence of a high concentration of dopant (5 mol%). UV–vis studies reveal that the absorption of the DCE doped crystals is less than that of pure ADP. Thermal studies (TG/DTG) disclose that the decomposition temperature of doped ADP is more than that of pure ADP. Vicker's microhardness study reveals that the addition of DCE increases the hardness of the ADP. SHG efficiency of DCE doped ADP is higher than that of pure ADP. Presence of dopant was confirmed by energy-dispersive spectrometry.