Investigation on nucleation kinetics, growth, optical, mechanical, conductivity and Z-scan studies on thiosemicarbazide cadmium chloride monohydrate (TSCCCM) single crystals for nonlinear applications

Single crystals of thiosemicarbazide cadmium chloride monohydrate (TSCCCM) are grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique (SEST) by utilizing double distilled water as a solvent. Single crystal X-ray diffraction (SXRD) analysis reveals the cell parameters and space group of the grown crystal. FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra were used to assert the presence of various functional groups present in the host material. UV study exhibits high transparency range of TSCCCM crystal and the corresponding optical bandgap is found to be 4.19 eV. The grown crystal exhibits negative photoconductivity. The mechanical strength of the grown crystal was investigated using Vickers microhardness test. The melting point of the grown crystal is determined using thermal analysis. Dielectric studies have been carried out as function of frequency at diverse temperatures. Chemical etching studies were carried out on the grown crystal by using water as an etchant. Second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency was found to be 13 times higher than that of KDP. The real, imaginary and third order nonlinear susceptibility of the grown crystal is determined using Z-scan analysis.