As high as about five times larger absorption efficient over a wide pumping bandwidth around 808 nm (therefore, the dependency on pumping wavelength is much lower and a strong tendency to the single mode output).
As large as three times larger stimulated emission cross-section at the lasing wavelength of 1064nm.
Lower lasing threshold and higher slope efficiency.
As a uniaxial crystal with a large birefringence, the emission is only linearly polarized.
Laser Properties of Nd:YVO4
- One of the most attractive character of Nd:YVO4 is, compared with Nd:YAG, it has 5 times larger absorption coefficient in a broader absorption bandwidth around the 808 nm peak pump wavelength, which just matches the standard of high power laser diodes currently available. This means a smaller Nd:YVO4 crystal that could be used for the laser, leading to a more compact laser system. For a given output power, this also means a lower power level at which the laser diode operates, thus extending the lifetime of the expensive laser diode. The broader absorption bandwidth of Nd:YVO4 which may reaches 2.4 to 6.3 times that of Nd:YAG, is also valuable. Besides more efficient pumping, Nd:YVO4 also means a broader range of selection of diode specifications. This will be helpful to laser system makers for wider tolerance and lower cost choice.
- Nd:YVO4 crystal has larger stimulated emission cross-sections, both at 1064nm and 1342nm. When a-axis cut Nd:YVO4 crystal lasing at 1064m, it is about 4 times higher than that of Nd:YAG, while at 1340nm the stimulated cross-section is 18 times larger, which leads to a CW operation completely outperforming Nd:YAG at 1320nm. These make Nd:YVO4 laser be easy to maintain a strong single line emission at the two wavelengths.
- Another important character of Nd:YVO4 lasers is, because it is an uniaxial rather than a high symmetry of cubic as Nd:YAG, what it emits is only a linearly polarized, thus avoiding undesired birefringent effects on the frequency conversion. Although the lifetime of Nd:YVO4 is about 2.7 times shorter than that of Nd:YAG, its slope efficiency can be still quite high for a proper design of laser cavity, because of its high pump quantum efficiency.
The major laser properties of Nd:YVO4 vs Nd:YAG are listed in Table below, including stimulated emission cross-sections (σ), Absorption Coefficient (α) Fluorescent lifetime (τ),Absorption Length (La),threshold Power (Pth) and Pump Quantum Efficiency (ηs).
