Nd:YVO4 crystalline film grown by pulsed laser deposition

We present the preliminary results obtained in the growth of thin films of Nd-doped YVO4 (YVO) by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on amorphous substrate. The films were obtained by ablating bulk YVO crystals doped with Nd3+ ions with a Q-switched tripled Nd:YAG laser in a UHV chamber. The samples have been characterized both morphologically (with X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscope measurements) and spectroscopically, by measuring fluorescence spectra and lifetime