INFLUENCE OF PRASEODYMIUM ON THE OPTICAL, STRUCTURAL AND DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF KDP CRYSTALS GROWN BY SEED ROTATION TECHNIQUE.

The Praseodymium doped potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate (KDP) crystals were grown from aqueous solution by the temperature lowering method using a microcontroller based seed rotation technique and slow evaporation technique with the vision to improve the properties of the crystal. The chemical composition of the grown crystals is confirmed by EDAX Analysis. The grown crystal was characterized by PXRD analysis confirm the crystalline nature and shifts in peak positions due to doping is observed. Using Scherer\'s equation particle size has been calculated. Solubility of crystals grown by slow evaporation technique is determined. The solubility curve shows that praseodymium doped KDP crystals has higher solubility than the pure KDP. The SHG efficiency is determined by Kurtz powder technique. It is found that relative SHG conversion efficiency of crystal grown by Seed rotation technique is greater compared to other technique. The UV-Vis spectrum shows that percentage transmission of crystals grown by seed rotation technique is greater compared to slow evaporation. The electronic band transition is studied from the plot of (?hv)2 versus photon energy (hv) and the band gap energy has been calculated. The dielectric constant, dielectric loss and ac conductivity of the crystal were studied as a function of frequency and the results are discussed. The functional groups are identified by FT-Raman analysis. The Optical transmission and SHG studies shows the suitability of the ingot for optical applications.