Abstract
Benzimidazole (BMZ) is an organic nonlinear optical material, and it is possible to grow it in the laboratory by a slow evaporation solution growth technique using methanol as the solvent. Its nonlinear optical harmonic generation efficiency is 4.5 times higher than that of standard potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) single crystal. It crystallizes with orthorhombic structure, which is noncentrosymmetric in nature, with lattice parameters a=13.58 Å, b=6.85 Å, c=6.97 Å. The functional groups of the grown specimen are confirmed by heteronuclear chemical shift correlation (HETCOR) analysis and it is found that other elements are not incorporated in the compound. The crystalline perfection is examined by high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), and its topographic image was recorded for the as-grown single crystal indicates the presence of some grain boundaries in the grown specimen. Thermal parameters such as thermal diffusivity (α), thermal conductivity (k), thermal effusivity (e), and heat capacity (c p ) have been determined by a photopyroelectric thermal wave method. In addition, piezoelectricity, birefringence, and third-order nonlinear optical properties have been examined. The two-photon absorption coefficient of the title compound is determined by the open-aperture Z-scan technique.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M.S. Wong, C. Bosshard, F. Pan, P. Gunter, Adv. Mater. 8, 677–680 (1996)
S. Natarajan, S. Martin Britto Das, E. Ramachandran, Cryst. Growth Des. 6, 137–140 (2006)
H. Yoshida, H. Fujita, M. Nakatsuka, M. Yoshimura, T. Sasaki, T. Kamimura, K. Yoshida, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 45, 766–769 (2006)
A. Escande, J.L. Galigne, Acta Crystallogr., B Struct. Crystallogr. Cryst. Chem. 30, 1647–1648 (1974)
N. Vijayan, G. Bhagavannarayana, T. Kanagasekaran, R. Ramesh Babu, R. Gopalakrishnan, P. Ramasamy, Cryst. Res. Technol. 41, 784–789 (2006)
N. Vijayan, R. Ramesh Babu, R. Gopalakrishnan, P. Ramasamy, W.T.A. Harrison, J. Cryst. Growth 262, 290–498 (2004)
M. Sheik-Bahae, A.A. Said, T.H. Wei, D.J. Hagan, E.W.V. Stryland, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 26, 760–769 (1990)
C.P. Menon, J. Philip, Meas. Sci. Technol. 11, 1744–1749 (2000)
S. Verma, P.J. Shlichta, Prog. Cryst. Growth Charact. Mater. 54, 1–120 (2008)
S. Verma, S. Kar, K.S. Bartwal, Principle and application of optical interferometers for investigating the refractive index homogeneity, birefringence, optical indicatrix, and surface features of crystals, in Interferometry: Principles and Applications, ed. by M.E. Russo (Nova Science, New York, 2011), pp. 537–560
Acknowledgements
The authors are very much thankful to Director, NPL, New Delhi, for his constant encouragement and support. One of the authors Dr. S.K. Halder is thankful to CSIR for providing the Emeritus Scientist Scheme. The authors are thankful to Dr. K.K. Maurya for his useful discussions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vijayan, N., Bhagavannarayana, G., Halder, S.K. et al. X-ray topography, photopyroelectric and two-photon absorption studies on solution grown benzimidazole single crystal. Appl. Phys. A 110, 55–58 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-7448-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-7448-7