New semiorganic crystal of lithium sulfate monohydrate oxalate (LSO) for nonlinear application was synthesized by controlled slow evaporation method. The growth rate of various planes of the grown crystal was estimated by morphological study. Single crystal XRD analysis confirmed that the crystal belongs to triclinic lattice with space group P1. High transparency (similar to 95%) with large band gap (4.57 eV) was analyzed by UV-vis studies. FTIR and Raman spectroscopy were used to identify various functional groups present in the LSO crystal. SHG efficiency was found to be equal to the KDP crystal. Thermal stability (up to 117.54 degrees C) and melting point (242 degrees C) of the crystal were studied by TG-DTA. In dielectric measurements, the value of dielectric constant decreases with increase in frequency. Hardness studies confirmed soft nature of crystals. The piezoelectric coefficient was found to be 6pC/N along [0 01]. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.