Influence of metallic substitution on the physical properties of nickel mercury thiocyanate nonlinear optical crystal

Single crystals of nonlinear optical material, copper (Cu2+) doped nickel mercury thiocyanate crystals have been grown by slow evaporation method using water and ethanol as solvents. The grown single crystals have been subjected to different characterization analysis and the results were compared with pure nickel mercury thiocyanate crystal (NMTC) which has been already reported. The single crystal X-ray diffraction shows that the addition of metallic impurity does not alter the basic structure of the parent crystal, but reduces the cell volume slightly. The presence of functional groups has been identified using FTIR analysis. Further, the grown crystal was characterized by optical transmission analysis and thermal analysis. The thermal stability of the grown crystal is high, compared to pure NMTC crystal. The optical transparency region of Cu2+ doped NMTC crystal is increased, when compared to pure NMTC crystal. Kurtz-Perry method was conducted for the powder form of grown crystal, which showed positive results for second harmonic generation in Cu2+ doped NMTC crystal. (C) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.