Single crystals of bis(thiourea)zinc chloride (BTZC) doped with basic amino acid L-arginine were grown successfully by slow evaporation method at ambient temperature. The doped crystals are optically better and more transparent than the pure ones having wide transmission spectra lying between 280 and 2000 nm. The comparative study of solubility curve shows a slight reduction in the solubility of the doped crystals. There is a drastic change in morphology due to doping which is also reflected in the X-ray diffraction pattern. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study confirms the incorporation of L-arginine into BTZC crystal, as there is a deepening of the absorption peak at around 3200 cm(-1). The second harmonic generation efficiency of the pure and the doped samples are almost same, which is equivalent to potassium dihydrogen phosphate. The doped crystals are harder than the pure one. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.