L-Ascorbic acid (LA) and cadmium Nitrate doped L-Ascorbic acid (LACD) crystals are grown from aqueous solution at room temperature in slow evaporation technique. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that both the pure LA and LACD crystals belong to monoclinic system with the space group P21.The presence of functional are identified by FT-IR spectrum. UV-VIS-NIR spectral studies were carried out to analyze the optical absorption of the grown crystals and confirmed that absorption is almost negligible in the visible and UV regions for both pure and doped crystals. Mechanical behavior of the grown crystals was observed by Vickers micro hardness studies. EDAX analysis confirmed the presence of elements in the crystal. Thermal stability of the grown crystal was investigated using TG/DTA. NLO properties have been confirmed by Kurtz powder technique. The laser damage threshold value was measured by using Qswitched ND: YAG laser.