Growth, crystalline perfection, spectral and optical characterization of a novel optical material: l-tryptophan p-nitrophenol trisolvate single crystal.

l-tryptophan p-nitrophenol trisolvate (LTPN), an organic nonlinear optical material was synthesized using ethanol-water mixed solvent and the crystals were grown by a slow solvent evaporation method. The crystal structure and morphology were studied by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The crystalline perfection of the LTPN crystal was analyzed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction study. The molecular structure of the crystal was confirmed by observing the various characteristic functional groups of the material using vibrational spectroscopy. The cut-off wavelength, optical transmission, refractive index and band gap energy were determined using UV-visible data. The variation of refractive index with wavelength shows the normal behavior. The second harmonic generation of the crystal was confirmed and the efficiency was measured using Kurtz Perry powder method. Single and multiple shot methods were employed to measure surface laser damage of the crystal. The photoluminescence spectral study revealed that the emission may be associated with the radiative recombination of trapped electrons and holes. Microhardness measurements revealed that LTPN belongs to a soft material category.