Growth and characterization of semi-organic crystal: thiourea ammonium carbonate for nonlinear optical applications

Thiourea ammonium carbonate (TAC), a novel semi-organic nonlinear optical single crystal, was successfully synthesized by the slow evaporation technique. The unit cell parameter of the grown crystal was revealed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction method. The molecular structure of TAC was determined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The lower cut-off wavelength (λ = 328 nm) and the optical energy band gap (Eg = 3.92 eV) of the grown crystal were found by using UV-vis-NIR spectral analysis. The different morphological identities over the grown crystals were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The TAC crystal is suggested for the soft material category by the Vicker’s microhardness tester. The corresponding dielectric properties were rigorously analyzed with different ranges of temperature. The optimum thermal stability of the TAC crystal was found by thermogravimetric analysis. The second-order generation efficiency was measured by Kurtz and Perry powder technique.