Growth and nonlinear optical properties of β-glycine crystals grown on Pt substrates

Seyedhosseini, E. , Ivanov, M., Bystrov, V., Bdikin, I., Zelenovskiy, P., Shur, V. Y., Kudryavtsev, A., Mishina, E. D., Sigov, A. S. and Kholkin, A. L. (2014) Growth and nonlinear optical properties of β-glycine crystals grown on Pt substrates. Crystal Growth and Design, 14(6), pp. 2831-2837. (doi: 10.1021/cg500111a)

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Abstract

Glycine is the simplest amino acid and one of the basic and important elements in biology, as it serves as a building block for proteins. The interest in this material has recently arisen from its useful functional properties, such as its high value of nonlinear optical susceptibility and ferroelectricity. Three polymorphic forms with different physical properties are possible in glycine, the most useful β-polymorph being much less stable than the other two. In this work, we could grow stable microcrystals of β-glycine using a (111)Pt/SiO2/Si substrate as a template. The effects of the solution concentration and Pt-assisted nucleation on the crystal growth and phase evolution were evaluated using X-ray diffraction analysis and Raman spectroscopy. A second harmonic generation (SHG) method confirmed that the 2-fold symmetry is preserved in as-grown crystals, thus reflecting the expected P21 symmetry of the β-phase. Spontaneous polarization direction is found to be parallel to the monoclinic [010] axis and directed along the crystal length. These data are confirmed by computational molecular modeling. Optical measurements revealed also relatively high values of the nonlinear optical susceptibility (50% greater than in the z-cut quartz). The potential use of stable β-glycine crystals in nonlinear optical applications is discussed.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Seyed Hosseini, Dr Ensieh
Authors: Seyedhosseini, E., Ivanov, M., Bystrov, V., Bdikin, I., Zelenovskiy, P., Shur, V. Y., Kudryavtsev, A., Mishina, E. D., Sigov, A. S., and Kholkin, A. L.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
Journal Name:Crystal Growth and Design
Publisher:American Chemical Society
ISSN:1528-7483
ISSN (Online):1528-7505
Published Online:18 April 2014

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