Synthesis and characterization of γ-glycine – a nonlinear optical single crystal for optoelectronic and photonic applications

A single crystal of gamma-glycine (GG), a polymorph of glycine, was synthesized by crystallization. The single crystal of GG was grown from an aqueous solution. The morphology of GG was studied in order to assess its growth facets. The good quality single crystals were subjected to X-ray diffraction studies to reveal their structure. The FT-IR spectral analysis was carried out to confirm the presence of expected functional groups. The UV-Vis analysis was done for GG single crystals to determine the optical transparency and band gap. Simultaneous TG-DTA analysis was employed to understand the thermal and physicochemical stability of the title compound. The mechanical stability and laser stability of GG single crystal were studied using Vickers microhardness test and laser induced damage threshold on different planes of the crystal to reveal its anisotropic nature. The dielectric measurement was carried out as a function of frequency and the results were discussed. The existence of second harmonic generation (SHG) of the title compound was confirmed by Kurtz-Perry powder technique. The SHG effective nonlinearity and particle size dependence of GG powder sample were compared with a standard reference material: potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP).