Investigations on nucleation kinetics, growth and characterization of sulphanilic acid single crystals

Nucleation parameters such as radius of critical nucleus, critical free energy change and interfacial tension were evaluated for Sulphanilic acid (SAA) single crystals. Metastable zone width and induction period values were determined to optimize the growth parameters. The interfacial tension values estimated using the experimentally determined induction period is found to be comparable with theoretical values. SAA crystals were grown with the optimized growth parameters. The formation of SAA crystals was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction and FT-IR studies. The density measurements were carried out by both theoretical and experimental methods. The NLO behaviour of SAA crystals was tested by Kurtz- Perry technique. The mechanical hardness was studied by Vickers Microhardness tester. The UV-Vis spectral analysis was carried out on the SAA crystals to study the optical properties. The laser damage threshold values of the SAA crystals are found to be 7.6 and 6.6 GW/cm2 for single and multiple shots, respectively. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)