Growth of highly nonlinear optical organic crystal, 3-methyl-4-methoxy- 4′-nitrostilbene (MMONS)

Single crystals of 3-methyl-4-methoxy-4′-nitrostilben (MMONS) of large size (40×32×32 mm³) and excellent quality were grown by the low-temperature solution growth method using methyl ethyl ketone as a solvent. Supersaturation was established by lowering the temperature at a rate of 0.07 °C/day at the initial stage and 0.3 °C/day at the final stage. MMONS crystals showed unidirectional growth along the polar axis, which can be explained by the molecular recognition concept. The overall morphology is represented by a truncated octahedron covered with {1 1 1}, {2 1 1̄}, {1 2 0}, {1 0 0} and (0 0 1) faces. Crystal perfection was characterized by using white beam synchrotron X-ray topography, which shows perfection of high degree.