Crystal growth and optical properties of highly nonlinear organic crystals, 3-methyl-4-methoxy-4'-nitrostilbene

Crystal growth from solution was used to grow single crystals of 3-methyl-4-methoxy-4'-nitrostilbene (MMONS). The morphology and quality of the crystals varied significantly depending on the solvent polarity. The crystal structure of MMONS was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. From linear refractive index data, the type I and type II phase matching angles and corresponding walk-off angles were calculated. The type II phase matching at (/spl theta/,/spl phi/)=(73.13/spl deg/,0/spl deg/) gives the largest value of the effective second-order nonlinear coefficient, d/sub eff/=59 pm/V. The full coefficients of the second-order nonlinear susceptibility tensor were measured by using the Maker fringe technique.