Growth of a novel nonlinear optical crystal 4-nitro-4′-methyl benzylidene aniline in different organic solvents

The organic nonlinear optical crystal 4-nitro-4′-methyl benzylidene aniline, also known as NMBA, was grown from solutions with different organic polar and non-polar solvents. NMBA single crystals with three different morphologies were obtained, viz. needles (one-dimensional), platelets (two-dimensional) and octahedral (three-dimensional). Large size three-dimensional octahedral crystals were grown with one-dimensional needles as seeds. All the grown crystals were subjected to X-ray powder diffraction analysis and the results reveal that all of them belong to monoclinic system with space group Pc. Lattice parameters calculated from the X-ray data are in line with the literature value.