Yttrium orthovanadate (YVO4) is a transparent crystal. Undoped YVO4 is used to make efficient high-power polarizing prisms similar to Glan–Taylor prisms. With a chemical structure very similar to wakefieldite ([La,Ce,Nd,Y]VO4), it is also sometimes used as a synthetic gemstone since the former is prohibitively rare.
There are two principal applications for doped yttrium orthovanadate:
Doped with neodymium it forms Nd:YVO4, an active laser medium used in diode-pumped solid-state lasers. Doped with europium it forms Eu:YVO4, the dominant red phosphor used in cathode-ray tubes especially in color TVs.
Basic properties Crystal structure: Zircon tetragonal (tetragonal bipyramidal) Space group D4h Lattice parameters a = b = 7.119 Å, c = 6.290 Å Density: 4.24 g/cm3 Melting point: 1810–1940 °C Mohs hardness: glass-like, ~5 Knoop hardness: 480 kg/mm2 Thermal expansion coefficient: αa = 4.43×10−6/K αc = 11.37×10−6/K Thermal conductivity coefficient: parallel to c-axis: 5.23 W·m−1·K−1 perpendicular to c-axis: 5.10 W·m−1·K−1 Refractive indices, birefringence ( Δn = ne - no) and walk-off angle at 45° (ρ): at 0.63 μm: ne = 2.2154 no = 1.9929 Δn = 0.2225 ρ = 6.04 at 1.30 μm: ne = 2.1554 no = 1.9500 Δn = 0.2054 ρ= 5.72 at 1.55 μm: ne = 2.1486 no = 1.9447 Δn = 0.2039 ρ = 5.69 Sellmeier equation (λ in μm): ne2=4.59905 + 0.110534/(λ2 − 0.04813) − 0.012267612 λ2 no2=3.77834 + 0.069736/(λ2 − 0.04724) − 0.0108133 λ2
See also Neodymium-doped yttrium orthovanadate
References