Synthesis and characterization of L-threonine lithium chloride (LTLC): A new semiorganic nonlinear optical single crystal for laser applications N. Indumathi a , A. Hemalatha a , E. Chinnasamy a , A. Venkatesan b , M.E. Raja Saravanan b , K. Deepa c , P. Matheswaran d , S. Senthil a,⇑ , K. Kaviyarasu e,f , R. Uthrakumar b a Department of Physics, Government Arts College, Nandanam, Chennai 600035, India b Department of Physics, Government Arts College (Autonomous), Salem 636007, India c Chemistry Faculty, Government Higher Secondary School, Kannigaipair, Tiruvallur 601102, India d Department of Chemistry, Government Arts College (Autonomous), Salem 636007, India e UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanoscience’s/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa f Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Group (MRG), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, 7129, P O Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa article info Article history: Received 9 August 2019 Received in revised form 14 February 2020 Accepted 17 February 2020 Available online xxxx Keywords: Single crystal FTIR FT Raman UV–vis-NIR PL SHG abstract A novel new nonlinear optical material of semi organic L-Threonine Lithium chloride (LTLC) was synthe- sized and crystal-clear single crystal was grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique at the ambient temperature. The grown transparent single crystal was characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), optical absorption spectrum, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy and Fourier transforms Raman spectroscopy. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that LTLC is an orthorhombic crystal structure with the non-centrosymmetric of P2 1 2 1 2 1 space group. The absorption range was evaluated from UV–vis-NIR and the optical band gap was calculated by Tauc’s plot and Photoluminescent spectra were obtained to investigate the optical properties. The dielectric response was studied under various temperatures. The second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency was studied by Kurtz Perry method. Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the NANOSMATAFRICA- 2018. 1. Introduction Nonlinear optical materials have been playing the vital role in laser technology, even though profound efforts in the field of the electro-optical materials, photonics, high density optical data stor- age, ultra compact lasers, color display, optical logic and switching, optical parametric generation and frequency shifting [1-5]. In a past few tenures, there was an extensive research in growing the NLO materials, due to its wider application in the field of laser and optoelectronics application [6-9,29]. Most of the organic compounds have the poor mechanical and thermal stability and growing the bulk size single crystal is difficult for the device fabri- cations. Inorganic crystals possess good mechanical and thermal properties, but the optical nonlinearity was lacked due to the extended p-electron delocalization [4,10–14,30]. For the above causes, the researchers are more concentrated in growing the semi organic NLO crystals, which unite the properties of organic and inorganic properties like high laser damage threshold, chemical stability, high transparency and higher chemical strength, which is suitable for the device fabrication [15,16,31]. Similarly, L-Threonine was the assured organic compounds for the NLO applications, because it contains proton acceptor amino (NH 2 ) group and the donor carboxylic (COOH) group, which is known as Zwitterions [2,19,20]. Because of its dipolar nature, L- Threonine was the ideal compound for the device fabrication and SHG applications [17-20]. Complex of L-Threonine with potassium iodide [3,21,22] and lithium sulphate [4,7,23] has been reported for semiorganic nonlinear optical crystals. Many of the new complexes incorporating the L-Threonine have been crystallized and their var- ious properties have been reported [5–7,24,25]. The semi organic NLO materials of L-Threonine lithium chloride (LTLC) was https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.02.669 2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the NANOSMATAFRICA-2018. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: ssatoms@yahoo.co.in (S. Senthil). Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Materials Today: Proceedings journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr Please cite this article as: N. Indumathi, A. Hemalatha, E. Chinnasamy et al., Synthesis and characterization of L-threonine lithium chloride (LTLC): A new semiorganic nonlinear optical single crystal for laser applications, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.02.669