Synthesis, crystal growth and physical characterizations of organic nonlinear optical crystal: Ammonium hydrogen l-malate

•Bulk growth of ammonium hydrogen l-malate crystal in monoclinic system has been grown.•Chemical structure of compound was established by FT-IR and NMR technique.•The optical transmission spectrum of AHM crystal reveals 64% transmission in the entire visible region.•The work hardening coefficient value of AHM is 4.04.•The second harmonic efficiency of AHM was found to be 1.2 times that of KDP.

An organic nonlinear optical crystal ammonium hydrogen l-malate (AHM) has been synthesized. Single crystals of AHM have successfully been grown by the slow evaporation solution method. Optically clear single crystals having dimensions up to 23 × 9 × 4 mm3 have been grown. Single crystal X-ray diffraction study confirms that the AHM crystallizes in orthorhombic crystal system with space group P212121. The powder X-ray diffraction pattern of the grown crystal has been recorded. FT-IR spectrum was recorded to identify the various functional groups of AHM. The UV–vis–NIR transmission was analyzed for grown crystal. Thermal analysis was performed to find out thermal stability of the compound. Vickers microhardness measurements were carried and also work hardening coefficient has been found. The crystalline perfection of the grown crystal has been analyzed by HRXRD measurements. The second harmonic efficiency of AHM was found to be 1.2 times that of KDP.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide