Growth and Characterization of a Nonlinear Optical Single Crystal: Bis(4-nitrobenzoate) Tetraaquamanganese (II) Dihydrate (BNMD)

Semiorganic optically transparent Bis(4-nitrobenzoate) tetraaquamanganese (II) dihydrate [Mn (p-NO₂C₆H₄COO)₂ (H₂O)₄]·2H₂O (BNMD) single crystals were grown by slow evaporation technique at room temperature. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis was carried out to determine the lattice parameters of the crystal. Powder X-ray diffraction pattern was recorded and indexed for the structural confirmation. The crystalline quality was confirmed by HRXRD. The presence of functional group in the compound has been confirmed by FTIR analysis. UV-Visible transmission spectrum has been recorded to determine the cut-off wavelength region of the crystal. The Second Harmonic Generation of BNMD crystal was confirmed by Kurtz-Perry powder method using Nd:YAG laser and found to be 0.59 times that of KDP. The dielectric response of the crystal was also investigated and reported. The microhardness study reveals that the hardness number (H_v ) increases with load. From the values of work hardening coefficients, it was concluded that BNMD crystal belong to the category of soft materials. Thermal studies were performed using differential thermal analysis (DTA).