Growth and characterization of pure and semiorganic nonlinear optical Lithium Sulphate admixtured l-alanine crystal

Lithium sulphate admixtured l-alanine (LSLA) salt was synthesized and the solubility of the commercially available l-alanine and the synthesized LSLA sample was determined in de-ionized water at various temperatures. In accordance with the solubility data, the saturated aqueous solutions of l-alanine and lithium admixtured l-alanine were prepared separately and the single crystals of the samples were grown by the solution method with a slow evaporation technique. Studying single x-ray diffraction shows that pure and LSLA crystal belong to the orthorhombic system with a non-centrosymmetric space group P212121. Using the powder x-ray diffraction study, the crystallinity of the grown crystals is confirmed and the diffraction peaks are indexed. The various functional groups present in the pure and LSLA crystal are elucidated from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study. UV–visible transmittance is recorded to study the optical transmittance range for the grown crystals. The powder second harmonic generation test confirms the nonlinear optical property of the grown crystals. From the microhardness test, the hardness of the grown crystals is estimated. The dielectric behaviour, such as the dielectric constant and the loss of the sample, are measured as a function of temperature and frequency. The ac conductivity of the grown crystals is also studied and the activation energy is calculated. (paper)