Growth and characterization of potassium acid phthalte for third order NLO applications

Nonlinear optical crystals of potassium acid phthalate (COOK C6H4 COOH)-KAP were grown from aqueous solution. Transparent crystals of size (21×17×4) mm3 with well defined morphology were grown from slow cooling techniques. The grown crystals were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal structure of Potassium Acid Phthalate C8H5K+O4 was orthorhombic with the following unit-cell dimensions at 298(2) K; a = 9.5970(3) A; b = 13.2869(5) A; c = 6.4643(3) A; α = 90°; β = 90°; γ = 90°; with a space group PCa21. Spectral analysis were carried out to investigate confirm its presence of various functional groups and to study the optical absorption properties. Third order nonliner studies have also been studied by Z-scan techniques. Nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refractive index were found out and the third order bulk susceptibility of compound was also estimated. The results have been discussed in detail.