A potentially useful second harmonic generation (SHG) organic material, 4-OCH3-4'-nitrochalcone (MNC), has been synthesized and grown as a high-quality single crystal by the slow evaporation technique. The grown crystals were characterized by FT-IR, single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis, SHG measurements and UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy. The material has thermal stability up to 174 degrees C and exhibits SHG efficiency of about five times than that of urea. The surface laser damage value was determined using a 6 ns laser pulse at 10 Hz repetition rate from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm. The mechanical property of the grown crystals was studied using Vickers microhardness tester and the load dependence hardness was observed. The refractive index was measured using the Brewster angle method. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.