Growth and characterization of an NLO material - crystal of triglycine acetate

Triglycine acetate (TGAc), a nonlinear optical material, has been synthesized. The second harmonic generation efficiency has been determined by Kurtz's powder test and it was found to be 1.55 times more than potassium dihydrogen phosphate. The solubility studies were carried out in the temperature range 30-55 degrees C. Single crystals of TGAc have been grown by slow evaporation of solution at 30 degrees C. The cell parameters were determined by the X-ray diffraction analysis. The UV-visible absorption spectra have been recorded to study the optical transmittance in the range from 200 nm to 800 nm. The Fourier transform infrared analysis identified various functional groups present in the material. The mass spectral analysis was carried out to measure the total molecular weight of the grown crystal. Using thermogravimetric analysis the thermal behaviour was studied.