Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-020-04066-3 Crystal growth, optical, spectroscopic studies, PL behaviour and Hirshfeld sur face analysis of a third‑order nonlinear optical Cesium Hydrogen Oxalate Dihydrate (CHOD) single crystal S. Sudha 1  · C. Rathika Thaya Kumari 2  · M. Nageshwari 3  · P. Ramesh 4  · G. Vinitha 5  · M. Lydia Caroline 6  · G. Mathubala 7  · A. Manikandan 7 Received: 2 March 2020 / Accepted: 16 May 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract Single crystal of oxalato-bridged, Cesium-extended frame work, Cesium Hydrogen Oxalate Dihydrate (CHOD), has been synthesized by slow evaporation solution growth technique. Difraction studies were used to identify the geometry of the atoms present in the primitive cell of the crystal. The title compound has crystallized in triclinic category-bearing space group P-1. Spectroscopic investigation of the compound was done by FTIR and FT-Raman techniques. From UV–Vis stud- ies, optical absorption edge was ascertained as 241 nm. It has excellent optical transmission window throughout the visible region. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) afrms the presence of Cesium in the compound. Fluorescence decay of the molecules present in the excited state for the crystal was studied. Hirshfeld surface maps intermolecular contacts present in the crystal and the contributions made by the contacts were assessed by 2D Finger print plots. Z-Scan studies ascertain the magnitude of nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear refraction. 1 Introduction Metal Organic frameworks (MOF) are porous, crystalline and robust hybrid materials of organic and inorganic con- stituents with inconceivable tunability of geometry, size and chemical nature. Tunability of MOFs can be made with- out change in their underlying topology [1,2]. It consists of ordered, crystalline and extended array of charge compen- sating metal ions coordinated to organic linkers. MOFs are known for astounding void fraction i.e. only 10% area of the material is occupied and it has expansive interior region without occupation of molecules and large void space. Their high porosity leads MOFs to be used in energy stor- age devices. They are used in batteries and superconductors. * M. Lydia Caroline lydiacaroline2006@yahoo.co.in S. Sudha sudhavaidhy@gmail.com C. Rathika Thaya Kumari rathikak06@gmail.com M. Nageshwari nageshwari.sb@gmail.com P. Ramesh gayaram0212@gmail.com G. Vinitha vinitha.g@vit.ac.in G. Mathubala madhu2705@gmail.com A. Manikandan mkavath15@gmail.com; manikandana.che@bharathuniv.ac.in 1 PG& Research Department of Physics, Arignar Anna Govt. Arts College, Cheyyar 604 407, Tamil Nadu, India 2 Department of Physics, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Agaram Road, Chennai 600073, Tamil Nadu, India 3 Department of Physics, Peri Institute of Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 4 Department of Physics, Govt. Thirumagal Mills College, Gudiyattam, 632602 Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India 5 Department of Physics, School of Advanced Sciences, VIT, Chennai 600127, Tamil Nadu, India 6 Department of Physics, Dr. Ambedkar Govt. Arts College, Vyasarpadi, Chennai 600039, Tamil Nadu, India 7 Department of Chemistry, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Agaram Road, Chennai 600073, Tamil Nadu, India