Nd:YVO4 Crystal
Nd:YVO4 (Neodymium-doped Yttrium Vanadate) is one of the best commercially available material for diode-pumped solid-state lasers, especially for lasers with low or middle power density. For example, Nd:YVO4 is a better choice than Nd:YAG for generating low-power beams in hand-held pointers or other compact lasers. In these applications, Nd:YOV4 has some advantages over Nd:YAG, e.g. high absorption of pumped laser irradiation and large stimulated emission cross section.
Nd:YVO4 is a good choice for highly polarized output at 1342 nm, as the emission line is much stronger than those of its alternatives. Nd:YVO4 is capable of working with some nonlinear crystals with high NLO coefficient (LBO, BBO, KTP) to generate lights from near infrared to green, blue, or even UV.
Contact us for the best solution for your application of Nd:YVO4 crystals.
WISOPTIC Capabilities - Nd:YVO4
• Various options of Nd-doping ratio (0.1%~3.0at%)
• Various sizes (max diameter: 16×16 mm2; max length: 20 mm)
• Various coatings (AR, HR, HT)
• High processing accuracy
• Very competitive price, quick delivery
WISOPTIC Standard Specifications* - Nd:YVO4
| Doping Ratio | Nd%=0.2%~3.0at% |
| Orientation Tolerance | +/- 0.5° |
| Aperture | 1×1 mm2~16×16 mm2 |
| Length | 0.02 mm~20 mm |
| Dimension Tolerance | (W±0.1mm)×(H±0.1mm)×(L+0.5/-0.1mm) (L≥2.5mm) (W±0.1mm)×(H±0.1mm)×(L+0.2/-0.1mm) (L<2.5mm) |
| Flatness | < λ/8 @ 632.8 nm (L≥2.5mm) < λ/4 @ 632.8 nm (L<2.5mm) |
| Surface Quality | < 20/10 [S/D] |
| Parallelism | < 20” |
| Perpendicularity | ≤ 5' |
| Chamfer | ≤ 0.2 mm @ 45° |
| Transmitted Wavefront Distortion | < λ/4 @ 632.8 nm |
| Clear Aperture | > 90% central area |
| Coating | AR @ 1064nm, R< 0.1% & HT @ 808nm, T>95%; HR @ 1064nm, R>99.8% & HT@ 808nm, T>95%; HR @ 1064nm, R>99.8%, HR @ 532 nm, R>99% & HT @ 808 nm, T>95% |
| Laser Damage Threshold | > 700 MW/cm2 for 1064nm, 10ns, 10Hz (AR-coated) |
| * Products with special requirement upon request. | |
Advantages of Nd:YVO4 (compared with Nd:YAG)
• Wider pumping bandwidth around 808 nm (5 times that of Nd:YAG)
• Bigger stimulated emission cross-section at 1064nm (3 times that of Nd:YAG)
• Lower laser damage threshold and higher slope efficiency
• Different from Nd:YAG, Nd:YVO4 is uniaxial crystal which gives linearly polarized emission, avoiding redundant thermally induced birefringence.
Laser Properties of Nd:YVO4 vs Nd:YAG
|
Crystal |
Doping（atm%） |
σ |
α (cm-1) |
τ (μs) |
Lα (mm) |
Pth (mW) |
ηs (%) |
|
Nd:YVO4 |
1.0 |
25 |
31.2 |
90 |
0.32 |
30 |
52 |
|
2.0 |
25 |
72.4 |
50 |
0.14 |
78 |
48.6 |
|
|
Nd:YVO4 |
1.1 |
7 |
9.2 |
90 |
— |
231 |
45.5 |
|
Nd:YAG |
0.85 |
6 |
7.1 |
230 |
1.41 |
115 |
38.6 |
| σ - stimulated emission cross-section, α - absorption coefficient, τ - fluorescent lifetime Lα - absorption length, Pth - threshold power, ηs - pump quantum efficiency |
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Physical Properties - Nd:YVO4
| Atomic density | 1.26x1020 atoms/cm2 (Nd%=1.0%) |
| Crystal structure | Zircon tetragonal, space group D4h-I4/amd a=b=7.1193 Å, c=6.2892 Å |
| Density | 4.22 g/cm2 |
| Mohs hardness | 4.6~5 (glass-like) |
| Thermal expansion coefficient (300K) | αa=4.43x10-6/K, αc=11.37x10-6/K |
| Thermal conductivity coefficient (300K) | ||c: 5.23 W/(m·K); ⊥c: 5.10 W/(m·K) |
| Melting point | 1820 ℃ |
Optical Properties - Nd:YVO4
| Lasing wavelength | 914 nm, 1064 nm, 1342 nm |
| Refractive indices | positive uniaxial, no=na=nb ne=nc no=1.9573, ne=2.1652 @ 1064 nm no=1.9721, ne=2.1858 @ 808 nm no=2.0210, ne=2.2560 @ 532 nm |
| Thermal optical coefficient (300K) | dno/dT=8.5x10-6/K, dne/dT=3.0x10-6/K |
| Stimulated emission cross-section | 25.0x10-19 cm2 @ 1064 nm |
| Fluorescent lifetime | 90 μs (1.0at% Nd doped) @ 808 nm |
| Absorption coefficient | 31.4 cm-1 @ 808 nm |
| Absorption length | 0.32 mm @ 808 nm |
| Intrinsic loss | 0.02 cm-1 @1064 nm |
| Gain bandwidth | 0.96 nm (257 GHz) @ 1064 nm |
| Polarized laser emission | parallel to optic axis (c-axis) |
| Diode pumped optical to optical efficiency | > 60% |
|
Polarized emission |
Polarized |
