Growth and characterization of a cyclohexanone based chalcone crystal 2(E)-(4-N,N-dimethylaminobenzylidene)-5-methylcyclohexanone for nonlinear optical applications

• Published in: Optical materials 2020-09, Vol.107, p.110035, Article 110035
• Main Authors: Jebapriya, J. Christina, Jonathan, D. Reuben, Kirupavathy, S. Shahil, Ragu, R., Prasana, Johanan Christian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chalcone; Dielectric; Second harmonic generation; Spectrum; Z-Scan
• ISSN: 0925-3467; 1873-1252
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2020.110035

The cyclohexanone based chalcone, 2(E)-(4-N,N-dimethylaminobenzylidene)-5-methylcyclohexanone (DABMC) synthesized by base catalyzed Claisen-Schmidt condensation and single crystals were grown from it by adopting slow evaporation solution growth method. Single crystal X-ray diffraction structural analysis confirmed the monoclinic system of the compound with C2/c space group. Transparency of DABMC crystal was studied by UV–Vis spectrum analysis and cut-off wavelength was found to be 415 nm. FT-IR and FT-Raman spectrum confirmed the presence of different functional groups in crystalline material. Molecular structure of the title crystal DABMC was confirmed from 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectrums. Thermogravimetric analysis and DSC measurements determined thermal stability, material decomposition and melting point of the grown crystal. Photoluminescence spectrum revealed emission peaks in blue region. Dielectric study was done to analyse dielectric behavior of the title crystal. Solid state parameters such as valence electron, plasma energy, Penn gap and Fermi energy were evaluated theoretically for DABMC using the empirical relation and estimated values were used to calculate electronic polarizability. Second harmonic generation efficiency of the centrosymmetric chalcone DABMC was determined by Kurtz-Perry powder technique. Nonlinear refractive index (n2), nonlinear absorption coefficient (β) and third order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(3)) of the order 10−6 were measured by the Z -Scan technique using He-Ne laser at 632.8 nm. •DABMC crystal was successfully grown by slow evaporation method.•DABMC crystal belongs to monoclinic crystal system with space group C2/c•Though the title crystal possessed centrosymmetric structure it exhibited SHG.•The third-order nonlinear susceptibility was found to be 3.345 × 10−6 esu.•The optical behavior of the crystal makes it suitable for fabrication of photonic devices.