Growth, Optical, Mechanical and Dielectric Properties of Potassium Tetraborate Tetrahydrate Single Crystal

Potassium tetraborate tetrahydrate (KTBTH) single crystals were grown by slow evaporation solution growth method at room temperature. The grown crystal was characterized by single crystal X ray diffraction analysis. FT – IR and FT – Raman spectra were recorded to identify the functional groups. Optical transmission and absorption spectral studies were carried out to test the transmittance of the crystal in the UV – visible – NIR range. Optical parameters such as band gap energy and extinction coefficient of the grown crystal were calculated. Mechanical hardness of the grown crystal was estimated by Vickers microhardness test. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss of KTBTH crystal were calculated as a function of frequency at different temperatures. The a.c. resistivity and a.c. conductivity were obtained from the dielectric studies. Etching studies were carried out for different etching time. Kurtz powder second harmonic generation (SHG) test reveals that KTBTH possesses SHG efficiency of 0.4 times that of urea, thus shows it a potential candidate for optical second harmonic generation.