Investigation on growth of a new organic nonlinear optical crystal urea L-tartaric acid

The nucleation of the organic nonlinear optical crystal, urea L-tartaric acid, was studied in supersaturated solution. The solubility and induction period of nucleation in different temperature were measured and the nucleation characteristic parameters were calculated. The effects of super-saturation and temperature on induction period were discussed. It was found that the induction period of urea L-tartaric acid crystal decreased with the raise of temperature and super-saturation. The interfacial tension, energy of formation and critical radius of nuclei of the urea L-tartaric acid crystal were calculated based on classical nucleation theory.