Solid state synthesis, crystal growth and optical properties of urea and p-chloronitrobenzene solid solution

Urea is an attractive material for frequency conversion of high power lasers to UV (for wavelength down to 190 nm), but its usage is hindered due to its hygroscopic nature, though there is no alternative organic NLO crystal which could be transparent up to 190 nm. The hygroscopic character of urea has been modified by making the solid solution (UCNB) of urea (U) and p-chloronitrobenzene (CNB). The formation of the solid solution of CNB in U is explained on the basis of phase diagram, powder XRD, FTIR, elemental analysis and single crystal XRD studies. The solubility of U, CNB and UCNB in ethanol solution is evaluated at different temperatures. Transparent single crystals of UCNB are grown from its saturated solution in ethanol. Optical properties e.g., second harmonic generation (SHG), refractive index and the band gap for UCNB crystal were measured and their values were compared with the parent compounds. Besides modification in hygroscopic nature, UCNB has also shown the higher SHG signal and mechanical hardness in comparison to urea crystal. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.