Ferroic crystals of tetramethyl ammonium tetrachlorozincate (TMA-ZnCl) were grown by slow evaporation technique and the morphology of the grown crystals varies with different pH values. The compound crystallizes in orthorhombic primitive system at room temperature with non-centro symmetric space group Pmna. The grown crystals were subjected to powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared (UV-vis-NIR) spectral studies and thermal studies. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurement confirms the existence of structural phase transition and the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) studies reveals that the crystal is thermally stable up to 330 degrees C. Vicker's microhardness studies expose that the material is mechanically stable up to a load of 60g. The laser second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency of the grown crystal was found to be 1.3 times that of potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate (KDP) crystal. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.