Synthesis, Structure, Crystal Growth and Characterization of an Organic Nonlinear Optical Single Crystal: L - Alanine L - Mandelic Acid

 L - alanine L - Mandelic acid [LALMA] single crystal was grown by slow evaporation technique at room temperature. The lattice parameters were assessed from single crystal X - ray diffraction analysis. The single crystal X - ray diffraction study proclaimed that the LALMA crystal crystallizes in monoclinic system and powder XRD analysis confirms the crystalline nature. FT - IR and FT - Raman spectral studies were carried out to confirm functional groups present in the crystal. Optical properties were analyzed using UV - Vis - NIR spectrum. Its lower cut off wavelength is 265 nm. The optical band gap of the crystal was calculated as 3.5eV. The photoluminescence spectrum exhibited two peaks (572 nm and 582 nm) due to the donation of protons from carboxylic acid to amino group.