Heat conduction of laser vanadate crystals

The heat conduction of laser vanadate crystals GdVO₄ and YVO₄ and their solid solutions is measured in the temperature interval from 50 to 350 K. Mixed rare-earth vanadates have the common chemical formula Re'_1-xRe''_xVO₄, where Re' and Re'' are two or more types of ions from a series La³⁺, Pr³⁺, Nd³⁺, Sm³⁺, Eu³⁺, Gd³⁺, Tb³⁺, Dy³⁺, Ho³⁺, Er³⁺, Tm³⁺, Yb³⁺, Lu³⁺, Sc³⁺, Y³⁺. The heat conduction of Nd:YVO₄ measured at room temperature proved to be more than twice higher than that reported in the literature and in certificate characteristics of laser Nd:YVO₄ elements manufactured by numerous commercial companies. The empirical dependences of the heat conduction along the crystallographic axes 100 and 001 on the composition of rare-earth vanadates Re'_1-xRe''_xVO₄, are obtained in the temperature interval from 200 to 350 K.