Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. (2012) 57: 20202
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2011110001

Growth, structural, optical and electrical study of Na-substituted potassium hydrogen tartrate crystals

Solid State Physics Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Srinagar 190 006, India

^a e-mail: famirnit@gmail.com

Received: 2 January 2011
Revised: 4 September 2011
Accepted: 15 November 2011
Published online: 5 January 2012

Abstract

K_1−xNa_xHC₄H₄O₆ · H₂O (x = 0.3 and 0.7) single crystals have been grown by the gel encapsulation technique. The composition-related structural, optical and electrical properties are investigated. All the crystals have an orthorhombic structure. With the increase of Na content, the transparency of the crystals increases and the band gap values decrease. Good optical transmission of these crystals predicts them to be potential candidates for nonlinear optical applications. From the study on electrical conductivity, a semiconducting behavior is observed for these crystals. Resistivity, activation energy and hoping range are found to decrease with Na doping. DC conductivity behavior observed in these crystals is found to follow a variable-range hopping model. A clear indication of disorder induced in these crystals after Na doping is observed.