Semi-organic nonlinear optical material: (((4-sulfonatophenyl)ammonio)oxy)zirconium for dielectric and photonics applications

This article discusses the growth and characterization of (((4-sulfonatophenyl) ammonio)oxy) zirconium (SAOZ) single crystals. Sulphanilic acid incorporated zirconium oxychloride semi-organic single crystals have been synthesized by slow evaporation technique. From the X-ray studies, lattice parameters a = 7.31 Å, b = 7.51 Å, c = 13.92 Å, volume = 765 ų have been found and so the crystal has been identified as orthorhombic with non-centrosymmetric space group P2₁2₁2₁. The powder XRD examination demonstrated the quality and high crystalline nature of the grown crystal. The presence of functional groups was confirmed by FT-IR technique. The chemical structure of the compound was established by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra. The optical transmittance window and the low cutoff wavelength of SAOZ have been identified by UV-Vis-NIR studies. Photoluminescence studies showed a wide blue light emission. TG and DTA examinations were carried out to characterize the thermal behavior of the grown crystal. The mechanical strength of the grown crystal was analyzed by the Vickers microhardness test. The elemental analysis was done by EDAX. The dielectric response of the crystals was analyzed in the frequency range of 50 Hz to 5 MHz at various temperatures and the outcomes were discussed. The SHG efficiency was estimated in correlation with KDP by employing powder Kurtz method.