Neodymium doped Yttrium

Orthavanadate (Nd: YVO4) Crystal

Laser crystals are used to generate laser radiation. The

commonly used laser crystals include Nd: YAG, Nd:
YVO4 and Nd: YLF for near IR lasers, and Ti: Sapphire
for tunable near IR output. Specifically,
Nd: YVO4, for diode pumped solid state lasers were
developed because diode pumping attracts more and
more interest of both R&D and OEM customers. The
laser crystals supplied include Nd: YVO4, Nd: YAG,
Gr: YAG, etc. We also provide complete kits of crystals
and optics for assembling your diode pumped solid
state lasers.

Nd:YVO4 is one of the most efficient laser host crystal currently existing for diode laser-pumped
solid-state 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 Nd:YVO4 an excellent crystal for
high power, stable and cost-effective diode pumped solid-state lasers. Developments have shown that
Nd:YVO4 can produce powerful and stable IR, green, blue lasers with the design of Nd:YVO4 and
frequency doubling crystals.

Compared with Nd:YAG and Nd:YLF for diode laser pumping, Nd:YVO4 lasers possess the advantages
of lower dependency on pump wavelength and temperature control of a diode laser, wide absorption
band, higher slope efficiency, lower lasing threshold, linearly polarized emission and singlemode output.
For the applications in which more compact design and the single-longitudinal-mode output are
needed, Nd:YVO4 shows its particular advantages over other commonly used laser crystals. The diode
laser-pumped Nd:YVO4 compact laser and its frequency-doubled green, red or blue laser light will be
the ideal laser tools of machining, material processing, spectroscopy, wafer inspection, light show,
medical diagnostics, laser printing and the most widespread applications.

With advanced technology to grow high optical quality and large size Nd:YVO4 crystals, we
can consistently provide as large as f35x50 mm3 Nd:YVO4 bulk crystal and f20x20mm3 finished crystal
with very low intrinsic optical loss.

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Germany and other countries: LASER COMPONENTS GmbH, Phone: +49 8142 2864 0, Fax: +49 8142 2864 11, [email protected]
USA: LASER COMPONENTS USA, Inc., Phone: +1 603 821 7040, Fax: +1 603 821 7041, [email protected]
Great Britain: LASER COMPONENTS (UK) Ltd., Phone: +44 1245 491 499, Fax: +44 1245 491 801, [email protected]
Nd:YVO4 Crystal

MAIN FEATURES:

 Low lasing threshold and high slope efficiency

 Large stimulated emission cross-section at lasing wavelength
 High absorption over a wide pumping wavelength bandwidth
 Optically uniaxial and large birefringence emits polarized laser light

1. BASIC PROPERTIES

Atomic Density: ~1.37x1020 atoms/cm2

Crystal Structure: Zircon Tetragonal, space group D4h,
a=b=7.12, c=6.29
Density: 4.22 g/cm3
Mohs Hardness: Glass-like, ~5
Thermal Expansion Coefficient: αa=4.43x10-6/K, αc=11.37x10-6/K
Thermal Conductivity Coefficient: ||C: 5.23 W/m/K; ⊥C: 5.10 W/m/K

2. OPTICAL PROPERTIES (typically for 1.1 atm% Nd:YVO4, a-cut crystals)

Lasing Wavelengths 914 nm, 1064 nm, 1342 nm

Crystal class positive uniaxial, no=na=nb, ne=nc,
no=1.9573, ne=2.1652, @ 1064nm
no=1.9721, ne=2.1858, @ 808nm
no=2.0210, ne=2.2560, @ 532nm
Sellmeier Equation (for pure YVO4 crystals):
no2=3.77834+0.069736/(λ2 - 0.04724) - 0.0108133.λ2
ne2=4.59905+0.110534/(λ2 - 0.04813) - 0.0122676.λ2
Thermal Optical dna/dT=8.5x10-6/K, dnc/dT=3.0x10-6/K
Coefficient:
Stimulated Emission 25.0x10-19 cm2 , @1064 nm
Cross-Section
Fluorescent Lifetime 90 µs (about 50 µs for 2 atm% Nd doped) @ 808 nm
Absorption Coefficient 31.4 cm-1 @ 808 nm
Absorption Length 0.32 mm @ 808 nm
Intrinsic Loss Less 0.1% cm-1 , @1064 nm
Gain Bandwidth 0.96 nm (257 GHz) @ 1064 nm
Polarized Laser Emission πpolarization; parallel to optic axis (c-axis)
Diode Pumped Optical to > 60%
Optical Efficiency

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Germany and other countries: LASER COMPONENTS GmbH, Phone: +49 8142 2864 0, Fax: +49 8142 2864 11, [email protected]
USA: LASER COMPONENTS USA, Inc., Phone: +1 603 821 7040, Fax: +1 603 821 7041, [email protected]
Great Britain: LASER COMPONENTS (UK) Ltd., Phone: +44 1245 491 499, Fax: +44 1245 491 801, [email protected]
Nd:YVO4 Crystal

3. ABSORPTION CURVES OF DIFFERENT DOPING Nd:YVO4

Nd:YVO4 shows high absorption coefficients at pumping wavelengths. Therefore, a crystal shortin-length
(e.g. 1mm) is preferred, and more compact lasers can be constructed by using Nd:YVO4 than using
Nd:YAG. Furthermore, it has a wide and smoothly-varied bandwidth of absorption, so that it allows
of less stringent requirements of diode laser selection and wavelength control as compared with
Nd:YAG. Different doping levels Nd:YVO4 are shown showed as follow

Absorption Curve of 0.5 % doping YVO4 Absorption Curve of 3% doping YVO4

(Thickness: 1 mm) (Thickness: 1 mm)

4. FLUORESCENCE SPECTRA CURVE

Normalized fluorescence spectra from 800 nm to 1600 nm of Nd 1.1 at. % doped Nd:YVO4 for π
polarization (a) and for σ polarization (b).

5. LASER PROPERTIES

The Nd:YVO4 crystal has large stimulated emission cross-sections (σ) at both 1.06 μm and 1.3 μm. The
stimulated emission cross-section of an a-axis cut Nd:YVO4 crystal at 1.064 μm is about 4 times that of
the Nd:YAG crystal. Although the lifetime (τ) of Nd:YVO4 is about 2.7 times shorter than that of Nd:YAG,
a figure of merit (FOM) for minimum threshold of a-cut Nd:YVO4, which is proportional to the στ
products, is reasonably higher than that of Nd:YAG crystal. Because of its high pump quantum
efficiency (ηp), the slope efficiency of Nd:YVO4 can be very high if the laser cavity is properly designed.
The following Table lists the major laser properties of Nd:YVO4 in comparison with those of Nd:YAG.

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Germany and other countries: LASER COMPONENTS GmbH, Phone: +49 8142 2864 0, Fax: +49 8142 2864 11, [email protected]
USA: LASER COMPONENTS USA, Inc., Phone: +1 603 821 7040, Fax: +1 603 821 7041, [email protected]
Great Britain: LASER COMPONENTS (UK) Ltd., Phone: +44 1245 491 499, Fax: +44 1245 491 801, [email protected]
Nd:YVO4 Crystal

LASER PROPERTIES OF Nd: YVO4 CRYSTALS VS. Nd:YAG

Laser crystal Nd doped σ α τ lα P th ηs

(atm%) (x10 cm ) (cm-1)
-19 2
µs (mm) (mw) (%)
Nd:YVO4 (a-cut) 1.1 25 31.2 90 0.32 78 48.6
2.0 72.4 50 0.14
Nd:YVO4 (c-cut) 1.1 7 9.2 90 231 45.5

Nd:YAG 0.85 6 7.1 230 1.41 115 38.6

Furthermore, the 1.34 μm CW operation of the Nd:YVO4 laser completely outperformed that of
Nd:YAG at 1.32 μm because of an 18 times larger stimulated cross-section.
Nd:YVO4 crystal has a low thermal conductivity coefficient, therefore, long-in-length with low dopant
level Nd:YVO4 is recommended for high power diode laser application in order to reduce thermal lasing
effects. Gold metalization on the side of Nd:YVO4 crystals is the solutions not only for thermal lasing
effects for high power pumped, but also enhancing lasing mode of the laser.

6. DIODE LASER-PUMED Nd:YVO4 LASERS

 A threshold of 78 mW and a slope efficiency of 48.5% at 1.064 µm were obtained by using an

a-cut 3 mm long Nd:YVO4 crystal with output coupler R = 96%. Under the same conditions, a 5
mm long Nd:YAG crystal has a threshold of 115 mW and a slope efficiency of 38.6%.
 Recently, over 30 W of TEM00 output power was achieved by using a-cut Nd:YVO4 and pumped
by 60 W fiber coupled diode lasers. The optical conversion effciency exceeds 50%. High power
and stable infrared output @ 1064 nm and 1342 nm has been available with diode pumped
Nd:YVO4 lasers.
 Single-longitudinal-mode oscillation of a Nd:YVO4 microchip laser has been achieved with high
power and high slope efficiency. Such a single mode source has been developed for the use of
a master oscillator for injection locking of Nd laser systems.
 Because of its large stimulated emission cross section at 1.34 μm, Nd:YVO4 is also an efficient
laser crystal for diode laser-pumped 1.3 μm laser. By using 1 mm long Nd:YVO4 crystal and
pumped by an 850 mW diode laser at 808 nm, 50 mW output at 1.34 μm has been observed,
compared to 34 mW from 2 mm long Nd:YAG.

Basic Experimental Scheme of Diode Laser Pumped Nd:YVO4 Green Laser

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Germany and other countries: LASER COMPONENTS GmbH, Phone: +49 8142 2864 0, Fax: +49 8142 2864 11, [email protected]
USA: LASER COMPONENTS USA, Inc., Phone: +1 603 821 7040, Fax: +1 603 821 7041, [email protected]
Great Britain: LASER COMPONENTS (UK) Ltd., Phone: +44 1245 491 499, Fax: +44 1245 491 801, [email protected]
Nd:YVO4 Crystal

7. FREQUENCY-DOUBLED ND:YVO4 LASERS

 By using the compact design of Nd:YVO4 + KTP crystals, high power green or red light output
can be generated in a diode laser pumped Nd:YVO4 laser. When pumped by a 890 mW
diode laser, more than 76 mW single mode (TEM00) green output was obtained with a 3x3x1
mm3 Nd:YVO4 and a 3x3x5 mm3 intracavity KTP.

 Diode pumped green lasers has been commercialized with the compact design of Nd:YVO4 +
KTP crystals. 2.5 mW green output was achieved in a Nd:YVO4 microchip laser with a very short
(9 mm) laser cavity when pumped by a 50 mW diode laser.

 Over 10 W and high stable CW green output @ 532 nm was commerially available with diode
pumped Nd:YVO4 and frequency double using NCPM LBO crystals. Single longitudinal mode
(SLM) green output, Q-switched green and UV outputs were also obtained.

 Over 400 mW blue laser @ 457 nm based on Nd:YVO4+ BBO crystals, is commerical available.

STANDARD SPECS. OF Nd:YVO4 CRYSTALS

Nd: Dopant Level 0.1 – 3.0 atm%

Standard Dimensions 3x3x3 mm3, 3x3x1 mm3, 3x3x0.5 mm3
Wavefront Distortion < λ/8 at 633 nm
Scattering Sites invisible, probed with a He-Ne laser
Orientation ± 0.5 deg
Dimensional Tolerance + 0.1/- 0.1 mm
End-faces Configuration Plano/Plano
Surface quality 10/5 Scratch/Dig per MIL-O-13830 B
Flatness l/10 at 633 nm
Clear Aperture > Central 90%
Parallelism < 10 arc sec.
Intrinsic Loss < 0.1% cm-1

Note: Other specifications of Nd:YVO4 crystals and coatings are available upon request.

We provide the complete diode pumped laser kits, including laser crystals (Nd:YVO4 and Nd:YAG),
NLO crystals (KTP and BBO) and laser optics.

05/11 / V2 / SB / divers-optik/laserstaebe_kristalle/ndyvo4.doc

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Germany and other countries: LASER COMPONENTS GmbH, Phone: +49 8142 2864 0, Fax: +49 8142 2864 11, [email protected]
USA: LASER COMPONENTS USA, Inc., Phone: +1 603 821 7040, Fax: +1 603 821 7041, [email protected]
Great Britain: LASER COMPONENTS (UK) Ltd., Phone: +44 1245 491 499, Fax: +44 1245 491 801, [email protected]