Effect of ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid additive on the nucleation kinetics and growth aspects of L-arginine phosphate single crystals

Pure and Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) doped L-arginine phosphate (LAP) single crystals were grown from the aqueous solution by temperature lowering method. The effect of EDTA additive on the solubility and metastable zone width of LAP solution has been investigated. Addition of EDTA has enhanced the metastable zone width of LAP and hence bulk crystals could be grown. The growth rate along the [100] direction increases with EDTA additive. Powder X-ray diffraction and FTIR studies reveal the absence of EDTA in the lattice of LAP, This reveals that the addition of EDTA to LAP doesn't influence the crystallinity. However, the transmittance and NLO properties significantly increase with EDTA additive and hence bulk LAP crystals are useful for laser fusion experiments.