Nd:YVO₄ – Neodymium doped Yttrium Vanadate

Nd:YVO₄ crystal is uniaxial and emits only linear polarization light so unwanted birefringent effects on frequency conversion are avoided. Frequency conversion is usually done with LBO (Lithium Triborate), BBO (Beta Barium Borate) or KTP (Potassium titanyl phosphate) crystals to get desired wavelengths (UV-NIR) as in the table below:

3photon can apply coatings to increase the performance of both Nd:YVO₄ crystal and non-linear optical crystal of your choosing.

Since this crystal has very wide absorption band (centered at 808 nm), lower precision (cheaper) diodes can be used for pumping thus allowing lasers to be less expensive than Nd:YAG lasers.

Furthermore – the same wide absorption band and ~5 times larger absorption coefficient than Nd:YAG also allows final laser to be smaller.

Nd:YVO4 vs. Nd:YAG

Advantages

• Emission cross-section (lasing) of Nd:YVO₄ at 1064 nm is few times bigger when comparing to Nd:YAG.
• Emission cross-section (lasing) of Nd:YVO₄ at 1342 nm more than a dozen times larger than Nd:YAG. In case you are constructing either pulsed or continuous-wave lasers 3photon suggest to consider Nd:YVO₄ as laser medium instead of Nd:YAG.
• Absorption coefficient Nd:YVO₄ is larger than Nd:YAG and in case same 808 nm diodes are used, with Nd:YVO₄ you can use these diodes at lower powers thus increasing the lifetime of the diode.

Disadvantages

• Upper state lifetime of Nd:YVO₄ is about 2.5-3 times shorter than that of Nd:YAG. This means that during Q-Switching it is hard to achieve pulse energies as high as with Nd:YAG (sometimes even impossible)

3photon recommends Nd:YVO₄ crystal if you are constructing 1342 nm lasers or if you need lower lasing threshold for 1064 nm.