Self-focusing behaviour of dichlorobis(sarcosinato)zinc(II) complex investigated by DFT computations, fluorescence, laser damaged threshold and Z-scan technique

[Display omitted] •The Dichlorobis(sarcosinato)zinc(II) crystals were synthesised slow evaporation method.•Hirshfeld surface analysis reveals the strong N-H…O and N-H…Cl intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions.•The multiple shot LDT value was found to be 18.12 GW cm−2.•Second-order hyperpolarizability were investigated by theoretically and experimentally.•Optical limiting properties of SZC complex was also studied. Single crystals of the metal complex [ZnCl2(CH3NH2+CH2COO–)2] were grown by slow evaporation method and its structure was confirmed by SC-XRD method. The structural geometry, vibrational wavenumbers, UV–Visible spectrum and NLO properties were computed using DFT. The calculated frontier molecular orbital energy shows the charge transfer interactions that occur within the molecule which proves its reactivity and stability. Third-order nonlinear optical properties along with optical limiting behaviour were explored using Z-scan technique with 5 ns Nd:YAG laser pulses at 532 nm. The laser induced surface damage threshold was also studied, which recommends the complex as a promising material for laser-assisted applications.