Effect of Co2+ on the growth and physical properties of potential nonlinear optical l-Asparaginium picrate crystal

l-Asparaginium picrate (LASP) is a good nonlinear optical material having large second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency. In the present study LASP crystal is grown with metallic dopant cobalt (Co2+) for different molar concentrations by a low temperature solution growth using slow evaporation technique. The grown crystals are subjected to single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction studies to identify the morphology and structure. The addition of Co2+ at different molar concentration improves the morphology of LASP crystal considerably. The dopant concentration in the doped crystal is estimated by inductively coupled plasma emission analysis (ICP-OES). The UV cut of range is determined by optical absorption study. The NLO behavior of Co2+ doped LASP crystals is tested by Kurtz–Perry technique. The TG-DTA studies showed that the doped crystal exhibit better thermal stability than pure LASP.