1-(4-methylphenyl)-3-(4-N, N dimethyl amino phenyl)-2-propen-1-one, a chalcone derivative nonlinear optical material has been synthesized by standard method. FT-IR and NMR spectral studies have been performed to confirm the molecular structure of the synthesized compound. The single crystals up to a dimension of 13 x 9 x 3 mm 3 were grown by slow evaporation method. The grown crystals were transparent in the entire visible region and absorbs in the UVregion. The refractive index has been measured using a He-Ne laser. The grown crystals have been subjected to single crystal X-ray diffraction studies to determine the crystal structure and hence the cell parameters of the crystal. From this study it is found that this compound crystallizes in orthorhombic system with a space group P2 1 2 1 2 1 and corresponding lattice parameters are, a = 7.3610(13) Å, b = 11.651(2) Å, c = 17.6490(17) Å. The Kurtz powder second harmonic generation test shows that the compound is a potential candidate for Photonic application. The micro hardness test on these crystals were carried out and the load dependence hardness was observed