One of the most promising commercial diode-pumped laser materials at the moment is neodymium doped yttrium orthovanadate (Nd:YVO4) crystals, particularly for low to medium power densities. This is mostly caused by its better emission and absorption characteristics.
Nd:YVO4 crystals combined with high NLO coefficient crystals can be used to frequency-shift a laser diode's output from near-infrared to green, blue, and even ultraviolet. An all-solid-state laser constructed in this way is the ideal laser instrument for a variety of laser applications. Alfa Chemistry is an expert in creating unique laser crystals. We will patiently and thoroughly assist customers in completing the online customization of Nd:YVO4 laser crystals.
Advantages of Nd:YVO4 Crystals
Nd:YVO4 crystals have many typical features such as high laser damage threshold, lower laser threshold and higher slope efficiency, large excited emission cross section at the laser wavelength, high absorption over a wide pump wavelength bandwidth, easy single-mode tuning, and high tolerance to the pump wavelength, and good physical, optical and mechanical properties. It also has a large birefringent uniaxial crystal emitting a linearly polarized laser.
Fig 1. The typical oscilloscope trace and pulse train using c-cut Nd:YVO4 and two layers CVD graphene. (Jia F, et al. 2017)
Properties of Nd:YVO4 Crystals
| Optical Properties | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lasing Wavelength | 1064 nm, 1342 nm, 914 nm | ||||||
| Thermal Optical Coefficient | dno/dT=8.5×10-6/K, dne/dT=2.9×10-6/K | ||||||
| Absorption Coefficient | 31.4cm-1 @810nm | ||||||
| Fluorescent Lifetime | 90 μs (1% Nd doping) | ||||||
| Polarized Laser Emission | π polarization; parallel to optic axis(c-axis) | ||||||
| Diode Pumped Optical to Optical Efficiency | ≥50% | ||||||
| Sellemeier Equations | n02=3.77834+0.069736/(λ2-0.04724)-0.010813λ2 ne2=4.59905+0.110534/(λ2-0.04813)-0.012676λ2 | ||||||
| Physical Properties | |||||||
| Crystal Structure | Zircon Tetragonal, space group D4h-I4/amd, a=b=7.1193A, c=6.2892A | ||||||
| Density | 4.22 g/cm3 | ||||||
| Atomic Density | 1.26x1020 atoms/cm3 (Nd 1.0%) | ||||||
| Mohs Hardness | 4~5 | ||||||
| Thermal Conductivity Coefficient | (300K): //C:0.0523W/cm/K, ⊥C:0.0510W/cm/K | ||||||
| Thermal Expansion Coefficient | (300K): αa=4.43x10-6/K, αc=11.37x10-6/K | ||||||
| Laser Properties | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crystals | Doping | σ | α | τ | Lα | Pth | Effi. |
| Nd:YVO4 (c-cut) | 1.1 atm% | 7x10-19cm2 | 9.2 cm-1 | 90 µs | 231 mW | 45.5 % | |
| Nd:YVO4 (a-cut) | 1.0 atm% 2.0 atm% | 25x10-19cm2 | 23 cm-1 46 cm-1 | 90 µs 50 µs | 0.32 mm 0.14 mm | 30 mW 78 mW | 52 % 48.6 % |
| Alfa Chemistry offers Nd:YVO4 specification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension | Upon customer request, ±0.1mm | ||||||
| Doping | 0.07%~3% | ||||||
| Doping Concentration Tolerance | ±0.05%(atm%<1%), ±0.1%(atm%≥1%) | ||||||
| Orientation | A-cut/C-cut +/-0.5deg. | ||||||
| Flatness | λ/10 @ 632.8nm | ||||||
| Clear Aperture | > 95% | ||||||
| Damage Threshold | 750MW/cm2 at 1064nm, TEM00, 10ns, 10Hz | ||||||
| Coating | AR/HR/PR (IAD, EB, IBS) coating upon customer's request | ||||||
| Quality Warranty Period | One year under proper use | ||||||
Why Choose Alfa Chemistry?
Alfa Chemistry possesses the knowledge necessary to grow Nd:YVO4 laser crystals with excellent purity. We can offer high-quality, cost-effective Nd:YVO4 crystals with doping concentrations ranging from 0.07% to 3%. Additionally, NdYVO4 composites can be used for higher power vanadium-based laser systems thanks to our diffusion bonding process.
If you need technical advice, please contact our technical team to learn more about our high-quality services.
Reference
- Jia F, et al. (2017). "Comparative Study of Passively Q-Switched c-cut Nd:YVO4/Nd:YAG Lasers Based on CVD Graphene and Controlled Operation." Optics Communications. 395: 102-110.