Habit modification of potassium acid phthalate (KAP) single crystals by impurities

Nonlinear optical materials potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP), urea and l-arginine phosphate (LAP)-doped KAP crystals were grown by the slow cooling method. The LAP-doped crystals show pronounced habit modification compared to KDP and urea doping. The effect of these impurities on growth kinetics, surface morphology, habit modification, structure, optical and mechanical properties have been studied. Among the three impurities, urea doping yields high mechanical stability and optical transmission and for KDP and LAP doping there is a decrease in optical transmission.