Vanadates

Nd³⁺-doped yttrium orthovanadate (YVO₄) has shown a relatively low threshold at pulsed operation. However, early studies of this crystal were hampered by severe crystal growth problems, and as a result YVO₄ was discarded as a host.With the emergence of diode pumping, Nd :YVO₄ has become an important solid-state laser material, because it has very attractive features, such as a large stimulated emission cross section and a high absorption of the pump wavelength, and the growth problem has been overcome for the small crystals required with this pump source.