Tetrahedra-based chalcogenides constitute the most abundant type for mid-infrared (IR) nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals. Meanwhile, different connection modes of tetrahedra will determine the mid-IR NLO properties, such as birefringence (Δn) and the second harmonic generation (SHG) response. In this research, we systematically investigate the structure–property modulated relationship between tetrahedra-based compounds and mid-IR NLO properties. Herein, three compounds, KHg4Ga5S12, K2CdSi4S10, and KCd4Ga3S9, consisting of the tetrahedral units, have been successfully synthesized through a moderate-temperature solid-state reaction. Specifically, K2CdSi4S10 and KCd4Ga3S9 with the opposite polarity T2-supertetrahedra and random orientation helix tetrahedral chains exhibit a small Δn and non-phase-matching (non-PM) SHG response. Notably, KHg4Ga5S12 with the distorted diamond-like (DL) structure shows a large PM SHG response of 3.5 × AgGaS2 (AGS), moderate Δn of 0.042@2050 nm, and high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 4.1 × AGS. Therefore, the results indicate that KHg4Ga5S12 has potential for application as a high-performance mid-IR NLO crystal. The consistent arrangement and distorted DL structure can be prioritized for the design of mid-IR NLO crystals.
Guo et al. (2026) studied this question.