Optically good quality, semi-organic bulk single crystal of strontium bis (hydrogen L-malate) hexahydrate (SrlA1) was successfully grown by Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR) method. Transparent (0 1 0) oriented unidirectional bulk single crystals of diameters 10 and 20 mm and length maximum up to 70 mm were grown over the growth period of 34 days with growth rate of 1 mm/day by the SR method. The grown crystals were subjected to various characterization studies such as chemical etching, UV-vis NIR spectrum, birefringence, laser damage threshold and thermal analysis (TGIDTA). The quality was also ascertained by birefringence studies. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.