A new metal-organic nonlinear optical material: L-Asparagine Indium chloride (LAIn) for photonics application

Single crystal of l-Asparagine Indium chloride (LAIn), a new semi-organic crystal was grown by slow evaporation method with deionized water as solvent at ambient condition. The crystal structure of LAIn has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction and the result shows that the crystal belongs to the orthorhombic system with P2₁2₁2₁ space group. The crystalline nature of grown crystal was analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction analysis. Optical parameters, such as absorbance, transmittance and optical band gap energy were analyzed using UV–Vis NIR transmittance data at the range of 190–800?nm. The ultraviolet (UV) emission nature of the sample was established from the sharp emission peaks in photoluminescence (PL) spectrum. The photo conductivity test exhibits that the grown crystal has positive photo conductive nature. The induced surface laser damage threshold (LDT) for the grown crystal was measured using Nd:YAG laser. The nonlinear optical efficiency of the LAIn crystal was studied using modified Kurtz-Perry powder technique. The hardness, Meyer index, yield strength and elastic stiffness constant were calculated for the grown crystal using Vickers microhardness tester. The variation of dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the grown crystals as a function of frequency has been investigated at different temperatures. The melting point and thermal stability of the LAIn single crystal have been studied by thermo gravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA).