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.