Second-harmonic (SH) activities of p-nitroaniline (pNA) crystallized i
n the presence of aromatic additives or impurities, have been measured
by the SHG powder method with a 1064 nm Nd: YAG laser source; values
were in the range 100-1000 x urea, depending on the additives and crys
tal-growth conditions. The SH-active crystals showed XRD patterns subs
tantially different from that of the centrosymmetric pNA crystal, and
were thermally unstable. The effects of foreign substances were discus
sed in terms of the control of crystal growth via an adsorption-inhibi
tion mechanism.