Growth and characterization of semiorganic nonlinear optical tetrakis thiourea nickel chloride single crystals

A new nonlinear optical material tetrakis thiourea nickel chloride (TTNC) was synthesized and single crystals were grown from mixed solvent of water and isopropanol by both slow evaporation and slow cooling methods. The grown crystals were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction analyses to confirm the crystal structure. The presence of functional groups and the coordination of metal ions to thiourea were confirmed by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy analyses. UV-VIS spectrum was recorded to study the optical transparency of the grown crystals. Thermal properties of the crystals have been by investigated using thermo gravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analyses (DTA), which indicate that the material does not decompose before melting. The second order nonlinear optical property of the grown crystal was examined by Kurtz powder technique and mechanical behavior was studied by Vicker's microhardness test. (C) 2007 WILE-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.