Yttrium Vanadate (YVO4) Crystal

The yttrium orthovanadate (YVO4) is a positive uniaxial crystal grown with Czochralski method. It has good mechanical and physical properties and is ideal for optical polarizing components because of its wide transparency range and large birefringence. It is an excellent synthetic substitute for Calcite (CaCO3) and Rutile (TiO2) crystals in many applications including fiber optic isolators and circulators, beam displacers, Glan polarizers and other polarizing optics, etc.

1.Basic Properties of YVO4 crystals

Transparency Range
high transmittance from 0.4 to 5mm

Yvo4curve.JPG (15066 bytes)

Transparency Curve of YVO4(Thickness=1mm)

Crystal Symmetry
Zircon Tetragonal, space group D4h
Crystal Cell
a=b=7.12 Å; c=6.29 Å
Density: 4.22 g/cm3
Hygroscopic Susceptibility: Non-hygroscopic
Thermal Expansion Coefficient
aa = 4.43 x 10-6/K; ac = 11.37 x 10-6/K
Thermal Conductivity Coefficient
||C: 5.23 W/m/K; ^ C: 5.10 W/m/K
Crystal Class: Positive uniaxial with no=na=nb, ne=nc
Refractive Indices, Birefringence (Dn = ne - no) and Walk-off Angle at 45º (r):
no = 1. 9929, ne = 2.2154, Dn = 0.2225, r = 6.04     at 0.63 mm
no = 1.9500, ne = 2.1554, Dn = 0.2054, r = 5.72     at 1.30 mm
no = 1.9447, ne = 2.1486, Dn = 0.2039, r = 5.69     at 1.55 mm
Sellmeier Equation (l in mm):
no2= 3.77834 + 0.069736/(l2 - 0.04724) - 0.0108133l2
ne2=4.59905 + 0.110534/(l2 - 0.04813) - 0.0122676l2
Thermal Optical Coefficient: dna/dT = 8.5x10-6/K; dnc/dT = 3.0x10-6/K

 

2.Comparation with other Birefringent crystals

  • Compared to Calcite, YVO4 has better temperature stability and physical and mechnical properties. Calcite is hard to obtain high optical quality because of its low susceptibility to moisture and low hardness.
  • Compared to Rutile (TiO2) which exhibits too high hardness, YVO4 is easier to be handled for optical surface processing that greatly reduces cost of fabrication, especially for batch production.
  • Compared to LiNbO3, although they have similar mechanical and physical properties, YVO4 has more than three times larger birefringence, that makes your design more compact.

3.Applications of YVO4 Crystals

Following drawings are the simple demonstrations of how the YVO4 crystals are used in Fiber Optic Isolator, Beam Displacers and Circulators.


 

 

CASIX unique advantages:

  • Reliable OEM supplier: CASIX has the largest production line of YVO4 crystals in the world. We have capacity to fabricate up to 10,000 pieces of YVO4 components per month.
  • Strong Technical Support: From crystals growth and fabrication to fiber optics design and applications, CASIX engineers always provide professional solution to customers. Come to CASIX, let our expertise serves you better.
  • Quick Delivery: We offer a series of standard YVO4 components which are commonly used in fiber optics . They are available off-the-shelf.
  • Special Products: Custom-made YVO4 components are welcome.

1. Birefringent Wedges for Fiber-Optic Isolators

 

Aperture

1.0 x 1.0 mm2 to 2 x 2 mm2

Isolator1.JPG (15665 bytes)
specifications

Dimension tolerance

+/-0.05mm

Wedge Angle tolerance

+/-15%

Optical axis orientation

+/-0.5°

Flatness

l/4 @ 632.8 nm

Surface Quality

20-10

AR-coating

R<0.2% @1550nm

 

Please refer to Birefringent Wedges for the standard products and price information.

Note: Other sizes and Coating are available upon request


2. YVO4 Beam Displacer

Dimension tolerance:± 0.05 x ± 0.05 x ± 0.1mm


Specifications

Optical axis orientation: +/-0.5°

Parallelism: <15 arc sec

Perpendicularity: <10 arc min

Flatness: l /4 @ 632.8 nm

Surface Quality: 20-10

AR-coating: R<0.2% @ 1550 nm± 40 nm

 

Note: Other sizes and specifications are available upon request


Standard Size

P/N

Crystal

Size

q

f

d

AR@

PBD3070

YVO4

2.6x2.6x7mm

45°

0.70mm

1550nm

PBD3100

YVO4

2.6x2.6x10mm

45°

1.00mm

1550nm

PBD3120

YVO4

2.6x2.6x12mm

45°

1.20mm

1550nm

PBD3150

YVO4

2.6x2.6x15mm

45°

1.50mm 1550nm

PBD3075

YVO4

2.6x2.6x7mm

45°

45°

0.70mm

1550nm

PBD3105

YVO4

2.6x2.6x10mm

45°

45°

1.00mm

1550nm

PBD3125

YVO4

2.6x2.6x12mm

45°

45°

1.20mm

1550nm

PBD3155

YVO4

2.6x2.6x15mm

45°

45°

1.50mm

1550nm