Influence of nickel and lanthanum ion dopants on growth and properties of L-ornithine monohydrochloride crystal for nonlinear optical applications

Pure L -ornithine monohydrochloride (LO) crystal and nickel (Ni 2+ )/lanthanum (La 3+ ) doped LO crystals were grown by the evaporation method. Grown crystals were characterized using X-ray diffraction, which confirms that crystals are highly crystalline in nature, and a slight distortion in the lattice parameter is observed for doped crystals. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) confirmed the presence of nickel and lanthanum in LO. The doped crystals have better transmittance in the region 250–900 nm and wider energy gap. The dielectric properties were studied over the frequency range of 100 Hz to 5 MHz. The determined Vicker’s hardness number indicates that the mechanical property of LO is improved due to the doping of Ni 2+ and La 3+ ions. Whereas, the thermal stability is unaltered upon doping. Second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency was determined by the Kurtz and Perry method, and it is found to be enhanced for La-LO and decreased for Ni-LO crystal.