Optical, structural and microhardness properties of KDP crystals grown from urea-doped solutions

Potassium dihydrophosphate single crystals were grown from aqueous solutions onto a point seed using temperature reduction method by doping with different molar values of urea. The characterization of the grown crystals was made by visible and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Vicker's hardness studies, X-ray powder diffraction, non-linear optical and laser damage threshold measurements. By comparing these crystals with the ones grown from the pure solution, it is shown that 0.2–2.0 M of the urea additive enhances the laser damage threshold and the second harmonic efficiency more than by 25 and 20%, respectively. By means of the Bond method using a multipurpose three-crystal X-ray diffractometer it is shown that the presence of urea additive increases the crystal lattice parameter c of the grown crystals, whereas the lattice parameter a is by an order less sensitive to the changing urea concentration in the solution. The Vicker's hardness studies at room temperature carried out on (1 0 0) and (0 0 1) crystallographic planes show an increased hardness of the doped crystals (grown in the presence of urea additive) on the plane (0 0 1) in comparison with that of pure potassium dihydrophosphate crystal.