Investigation on physical properties of L-alanine: An effect of Methylene blue dye

In the present investigation, a bulk size (35 mm x 25 mm x 15 mm) single crystal of 0.1 wt% Methylene blue dye (MLB) added L-alanine is grown at room temperature using solution technique for the first time. The L-alanine crystals with higher concentrations of dye (0.5 and 1 wt%) were also grown. Solubility study was performed at different temperatures. Structural, vibrational and good quality was inveterate by powder XRD, FT-Raman and SEM analyses. High transmittance in dyed crystals was confirmed. The presence of MLB dye was confirmed by an absorption band centered at 650 nm. Optical band gap was calculated for pure and dyed L-alanine crystals and found to be 5.45 and 4.49 eV respectively. Photoluminescence intensity of UV-A emission band centered at 332 nm was found to be enhanced due to the presence of dye. The dielectric measurement was done in the wide frequency range. Furthermore, the third order nonlinear optical parameters are enhanced in dyed L-alanine crystals determined by Z-scan technique. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.