The frequency doubling and tripling can be reached for Nd:YAG laser beam using the single crystal of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP). The growth and characterization of pure and L-phenylalanine doped ADP crystals are considered in the present contribution. The transparent good quality single crystals are grown using low temperature solution growth technique. The functional group alteration is studied using FT-IR spectroscopy. The larger improvement is observed in linear and nonlinear optical properties of ADP crystals on doping by L-phenylalanine. The reduction in charge carrier density is observed in photoconductivity spectra of all the grown crystals. © 2020 The Author(s)