Nd:YVO4 Crystals
Nd:YVO4 (Neodymium doped yttrium Vanadate) crystal is one of the most efficient laser host crystals for all-solid-state laser diode pumped lasers. Its large stimulated emission cross-section at lasing wavelength, high absorption coefficient and wide absorption bandwidth at pump wavelength, high laser induced damage threshold as well as good physical, optical and mechanical properties make it an excellent crystal for high power, stable and cost-effective diode pumped solid-state lasers.
Nd:YVO4 crystals with diffusion bonded undoped YVO4 endcaps are also available from Newlight Photonics. Please visit here.
| Part No. | Description | Size | Doping | Price | Availability | Add to Cart |
Newlight's Nd:YVO4 features,
 Low lasing threshold and high slope efficiency |
| Large stimulated emission cross-section at lasing wavelength |
| High absorption over a wide range of pumping wavelength |
| Large birefringence emitting polarized light |
| Low sensitivity to pumping wavelength variation |
Basic Properties:
| Atomic Density | 1.26x1020 atoms/cm3 (Nd doping:1.0%) |
| Crystal Structure | Tetragonal, space group I41/amd a=b=7.1193, c=6.2892 |
| Density | 4.22g/cm3 |
| Melting Temperature | 1825 oC |
| Mohs Hardness | 4-5 |
| Specific Heat @25oC | 24.6 (cal/mol/K) |
| Thermal Expansion Coefficients (@300K) | αa=4.43x10-6/K αc=11.37x10-6/K |
| Thermal Conductivity Coefficients(@300K) | //C: 5.23W/m/K ⊥C: 5.10W/m/K |
Optical Properties:
| Lasing Wavelength | 1064.3nm, 1342nm |
| Thermo-optical Coefficient (@300K) | dno/dT=8.5x10-6/K dne/dT=2.9x10-6/K |
| Sellmeier Equations for Pure YVO4 crystals ( λ in µm) |
no2=3.77834+0.069736/(λ2-0.04724)-0.0108133λ2 ne2=4.59905+0.110534/(λ2-0.04813)-0.0122676λ2 |
| Refractive Index (@1064nm) | no=1.958, ne=2.168 |
| Stimulated Emission Cross- section |
25x10-19 cm2 @1064nm |
| Fluorescent Lifetime | 95 µs |
| Peak absorption wavelength | 808 nm |
| Absorption Coefficient (1% Nd) | 22.8 cm-1 (E//c), 11.1 cm-1 (E//a) @ 808nm |
| Intrinsic Loss | 0.02 cm-1 @ 1064nm |
| Gain Bandwidth | 0.96nm @ 1064nm |
| Polarized Laser Emission | Parallel to the optic axis (c-axis) |
Laser Properties
:
The Nd:YVO4 crystal has large stimulated emission cross-sections at both 1064nm and 1342nm. The stimulated emission cross-section of an a-axis cut Nd:YVO4 crystal at 1064nm is about 4 times higher than that of the Nd:YAG crystal. Although the lifetime of Nd:YVO4 is about 2.7 times shorter than that of Nd:YAG, the slope efficiency of a Nd:YVO4 laser can be very high if the laser cavity is properly designed thanks to its high pump quantum efficiency, . Table 1 lists the major laser properties of Nd:YVO4 in comparison with those of Nd:YAG. Table 2 gives the performance of a few examples of Nd:YVO4 lasers.
Table 1. Laser Properties of Nd:YVO4 in comparison with Nd:YAG
| Laser crystal | Doping (atm%) |
σ (x10-19cm2) |
α (cm-1) |
τ (µs) |
Pth (mW) |
Effi. (%) |
| Nd:YVO4 (a-cut) |
1.0 2.0 |
25 25 |
23 46 |
90 50 |
30 78 |
52 48.6 |
| Nd:YVO4 (c-cut) |
1.1 | 7 | 9.2 | 90 | 231 | 45.5 |
| Nd:YAG | 0.85 | 6 | 7.1 | 230 | 115 | 38.6 |
Table 2. Diode pumped Nd:YVO4 laser output compared with that of a Nd:YAG laser (Examples)
| Crystals | Size (mm3) | Pump Power | Output (@ 1064nm) |
| Nd:YVO4 | 3x3x1 | 850mW | 350mW |
| Nd:YVO4 | 3x3x5 | 15W | 6W |
| Nd:YAG | 3x3x2 | 850mW | 34mW |
Specifications on finished Nd:YVO4:
| Nd: Dopant Level | 0.1 - 3.0% (Atomic Pencentage, atm%) |
| Wavefront Distortion | < λ/4 per inch @ 633 nm |
| Scattering Sites | Invisible when probed with a He-Ne laser |
| Orientation | The propagation axis is along the a-axis (+/- 0.5deg.) |
| Dimensional Tolerance | +/- 0.1mm |
| End-faces Configuration | Plano/Plano |
| Surface Quality: | 10/5 Scratch/Dig per MIL-O-13830B |
| Flatness | λ/10 at 633 nm |
| Clear Aperture | > Central 90% |
| Parallelism | < 10 arc sec. |
| Intrinsic Loss | < 0.1% cm-1 |
Standard coatings:
AR/AR coating:
First surface S1: AR@1064nm(R<0.1%), HT@808nm(T>95%);
Second surface S2: AR@1064nm
HR/AR coating:
First surface S1: HR@1064nm(R>99.8%), HT@808nm(T>95%);
Second surface S2: AR@1064nm
Crystal holders:
Crystal holders with or without water fittings can be manufactured to be compatible with the customer lasers. Indium foil can be supplied for crystal wrapping.
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