Dielectric, optical and mechanical studies of phenolic polyene OH1 organic electrooptic crystal

•OH1 crystal of NLRI (10−11 m 2/W) and NLA (10−6 m/W).•The optical band gap of OH1 crystal is 2.2183 eV.•Microhardness of OH1 is three times greater than that of DAST.•Laser damage threshold of OH1 crystal is 0.62 Gw/cm2.•PL spectrum of high intensity (276,747.679) was observed at 642.55 nm.

2-{3-[2-(4-Hydroxyphenyl) vinyl]-5, 5-dimethylcyclo-hex-2-en-1-ylidene}malononitrile (OH1) phenolic locked polyene organic material has been synthesized by the Knoevenagel condensation method. OH1 single crystals were grown in methanol by a slow evaporation method. In order to avoid the multinucleation and reduce the metastable zone width, phosphoric acid is added in different concentrations. The linear optical property of OH1 crystal has been studied using UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy in the wavelength range 190–1100 nm and optical constants are calculated theoretically. The magnitude of nonlinear refractive index (10−12 m2/W), nonlinear absorption (10−6 m/W) and third order nonlinear susceptibility (10−6 esu) has been studied using a Z-scan technique. Dielectric property of OH1 crystal has been studied in frequency range 50 Hz–5 MHz. Photoluminescence spectrum was recorded using a xenon lamp in the range of 450–700 nm. Laser optical damage threshold of OH1 crystal was obtained (0.62 GW/cm2) using a pulsed Nd-YAG laser (1064 nm) of repetition rate 10 ns.