Single crystals of pure. L-arginine and glycine doped ammonium dihydrogen orthophosphate (ADP) were grown by both the slow solvent evaporation method and the temperature-gradient method of Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR). The metastable zone width for different saturation temperatures of pure glycine and L-arginine added solutions were carried out. The grown crystals were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical transmission, dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and Vickers microhardness. The DSC and TG curves of the grown crystals indicated that they were stable up to 200 degrees C. The XRD study confirmed the structure of the grown crystal. The optical transmission analysis revealed that the pure and doped ADP crystals had very high percentage of transmission in the entire visible region. The important optical parameters such as reflectance and extinction coefficients of the grown crystals were calculated. L-arginine and glycine were used as dopants to reduce dielectric constant of ADP. The a.c. resistivity and a.c. conductivity were calculated. Dielectric loss of the doped ADP crystals grown by the SR method is lower than the doped ADP crystals grown by the conventional method. Larger hardness value for the SR method grown crystals confirmed greater crystalline perfection. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.