Studies on the optical and mechanical properties of non-linear optical 3-aminophenol orthophosphoric acid (3-amphph) single crystal

Single crystals of semiorganic material 3-aminophenol orthophosphoric acid (denoted as 3-amphph) of size 29 × 17 × 4 mm³ have been grown by the slow evaporation of an aqueous solution of deionized water at 50 °C. The crystal belongs to orthorhombic system with the non centrosymmetric space group P2₁2₁2₁. The lattice parameter values of 3-amphph crystal are a = 4.481(2) Å, b = 9.782(4) Å and c = 18.326(4) Å. The grown crystals are subjected to single crystal XRD studies to identify its morphology and structure. Optical transmittance and second harmonic generation of the grown crystals have been studied by UV–Vis–NIR spectrum and Kurtz powder technique respectively. The transmittance of 3-amphph crystal has been used to calculate the refractive index n, the extinction coefficient k, reflectance R and both the real (?_r) and imaginary (?_i) components of the dielectric constant as a function of wavelength. The optical band gap of 3-amphph is 4.05 eV with direct transition. The anisotropic mechanical behavior of 3-amphph has been analyzed using Vickers microhardness test. The mechanism of growth is revealed by carrying out chemical etching using water as etchant.