GROWTH AND CHARACTERIZATION STUDIES OF PURE AND MG2+ DOPED ZINC HYDROGEN PHOSPHATE CRYSTALS

Zinc hydrogen phosphate (ZHP) and magnesium doped zinc hydrogen phosphate (MZHP) crystals are grown in silica gel medium with silica gel technique by the process of diffusion using different gel densities and various concentrations of orthoposphoric acid and supernatant solutions. The grown crystals were characterized by powder X – ray diffraction (PXRD) studies, whereas from single crystal X-ray diffraction (SXRD) the crystal system comes out to be orthorhombic. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) studies signifies the presence of phosphate (PO4) 2- group and water of crystallization. Thermogravimetric analysis is undertaken to study the thermal stability of the grown crystals. Kurtz powder technique is employed to confirm their non – linear optic (NLO) behavior. The study of UV absorption spectra reveals that the value of band gap energy decreased slightly as the concentration of magnesium increased.