Vicker's Microhardness Studies of L-arginine Hydrobromide Monohydrate Crystals (LAHBr)

Abstract

Vicker's microhardness study of (100), (010) and (001) faces of a non-linear optical crystal, L-arginine hydrobromide monohydrate (LAHBr)have been reported.(100) plane is found to be the weakest plane. It has been observed that the microhardness decreases with increasing load for the three crystal planes. The microhardness behaviour have been explained successfully with the help of the PSR model proposed by Li and Bradt. Work hardening index n for the three planes are found to be greater than 1.6 which indicates that LAHBr is a soft crystal.