Studies on the growth, spectral, structural, electrical, optical and mechanical properties of Uronium 3-carboxy-4-hydroxybenzenesulfonate single crystal for third-order nonlinear optical applications

•Single crystal of UCHBS size up to 16 × 12 × 4 mm3 was grown by solution growth method.•FWHM traced on (1 1 0) plane of UCHBS crystal was found to be 116 arc s.•UV–Vis cut-off wavelength of UCHBS was found to be 345 nm.•NLO parameters, n2 = 3.932 × 10−12 m2/W, and β = 2.653 × 10−4 cm/W were estimated.

Organic Uronium 3-carboxy-4-hydroxybenzenesulfonate (UCHBS) nonlinear optical single crystal was grown by solution growth technique. The solubility and nucleation studies were performed for UCHBS at different temperatures 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 °C. The crystal structure of UCHBS was elucidated from single crystal X-ray diffraction study. High resolution X-ray diffraction technique was employed to study the perfection and internal defects of UCHBS crystal. Infrared and Raman spectra were recorded to analyze the vibrational behavior of chemical bonds and its functional groups. The physico-chemical changes, stability and decomposition stages of the UCHBS compound were established by TG–DTA studies. The dielectric phenomenon of UCHBS crystal was studied at different temperatures with respect to frequency. Linear optical properties of transmittance, cut-off wavelength, band gap of UCHBS were found from UV–visible spectral studies. Third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility, nonlinear refractive index, nonlinear optical absorption coefficient values were measured by Z-scan technique. The mechanical properties of UCHBS crystal was studied by using Vicker’s microhardness test. The growth features of UCHBS crystal were analyzed from etching studies.

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