Synthesis, growth and physicochemical properties of an organometallic nonlinear optical crystal: Mercury cadmium chloride thiocyanate

SCN− ligand based organometallic non-linear optical mercury cadmium chloride thiocyanate (MCCTC) crystals are grown from water plus methanol mixed solvent by slow evaporation technique. The grown crystals are confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. MCCTC exhibits a SHG efficiency which is nearly 17 times more than that of KDP. The dielectric constant, dielectric loss and ac conductivity measurements of the sample have been carried out for different frequencies (100 Hz to 5 MHz) and, temperatures (308–388 K) and the results are discussed. Photoconductivity study confirms that the title compound possesses negative photoconducting nature. The surface morphology of MCCTC was also investigated.