A laser crystal Er3+:YbVO4 has been grown by the Czochralski method with excellent quality. The rocking curve from the (004) diffraction plane of the as-grown Er3+:YbVO4 Crystal was measured and the full-width at half-maximum value was found to be 19.80in. for the (004) face. The effective segregation coefficient of Er3+ was studied by X-ray fluorescence and the crystal structure was determined by means of X-ray diffraction analysis. The polarized absorption spectra and the fluorescence spectra of Er3+:YbVO4 were measured at room temperature. The spectral parameters were calculated based on the Judd-Ofelt theory, and the intensity parameters Omega(2), Omega(4) and Omega(6) are found to be 5.50 x 10(-20), 1.96 x 10(-20) and 2.34 x 10(-20) cm(2), respectively. The emission cross-section has been calculated by the Fuechtbauer-Ladenbury method. The spectroscopic parameters of Er3+:YbVO4 are compared with other typical laser hosts. Crown Copyright (c) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.