Unidirectional growth of l-alanine single crystal: NLO material from the amino acid family

Single crystal of l-alanine (LALA) has been grown by using the Sankaranarayanan and Ramasamy (SR) method. The identity of the crystal was confirmed using single crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystalline perfection was evaluated using high-resolution X-ray diffractometry (HRXRD). Infrared (IR) spectroscopic, UV–vis–NIR spectral and second harmonic generation (SHG) conversion efficiency studies were carried out. Microhardness measurements and thermal studies of the compound were made and reported.