Glycine lithium sulphate (GLS) single crystals of size 12 min x 6 mm x 4 min have been grown by slow evaporation technique at ambient temperature from aqueous solution of glycine and lithium sulphate. The grown crystals were characterized by FTIR, single crystal X-ray diffraction and powder X-ray diffraction techniques. The GLS crystallizes in no ncetrosymmetric structure, which is an essential criterion for second harmonic generation. The GLS crystal is thermally stable up to 283 degrees C. The GLS crystal shows better hardness value compared to gamma-glycine. The lower optical cutoff for this crystal was observed at 228 nm. The second harmonic conversion efficiency of GLS was determined using Kurtz and Perry technique and was found to be two times greater than that of KDP. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.