Growth of ninhydrin single crystal and its characterization

A novel organic nonlinear optical crystal ninhydrin having good optical quality was grown by solution technique using aqua solution. The quality of the crystal was also examined by high-resolution X-ray diffraction study. Solubility studies were made at different temperatures. Functional groups present in the grown material were identified from the vibrational frequencies of recorded FTIR spectrum. Transmittance of the crystal was recorded using the UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometer. From the thermal analysis it was observed that the material exhibits single sharp melting point. The fluorescence spectrum of ninhydrin was recorded. The Vicker's microhardness values were measured for the grown crystal. Second harmonic generation conversion efficiency estimated using Kurtz and Perry method is about five times that of KDP.