Third order nonlinear optical, dielectric, photoluminescence and thermal analysis of Gd3+ doped glycine copper chloride (GCC) crystals

In the present investigations, metal-organic third order nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals of glycine copper chloride (GCC) and gadolinium (Gd) doped GCC with molecular formula (C2H5NO2CuCl2)1-x [Gd(NO3)3]x, where [x =0.05, 0.10, 0.20] have been successfully grown. The growth of these semi-organic crystal compositions has been achieved at room temperature by slow solvent evaporation technique. The crystals exhibit excellent properties which get confirmed by various characterization studies like single crystal X – ray diffraction (SCXRD), powder X – ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV – Vis), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, thermal analysis, electrical and nonlinear optical studies. SCXRD confirms that the grown crystal crystallizes in tetragonal crystal system having space group P42/mnm. The PXRD shows the appearance of sharp and strong peaks which refers to the good crystallinity and phase purity of the grown crystals. FTIR was recorded in order to identify various expected functional group. Linear optical behaviour using UV – Vis confirms the compositions to have good optical transmission in the entire visible region and lower cutoff wavelength ranging between 225 to 244 nm which is essential parameter for developing optoelectronic devices. The band gap value comes out to be in the range of 5.43 – 5.53 eV. The grown crystals possess excellent thermal stability. Results of dielectric studies conducted as a function of temperature divulged the electrical properties of crystals. Third – order nonlinear optical (TONLO) response have been observed using Z – scan setup. The calculated TONLO parameters n2, β, and χ(3) shows large value suggests that grown compositions can be used in practical non linear optical device applications.