The continuous-wave (CW) and passively Q-switched laser performance of a Nd:Gd0.63Y0.37VO4 microchip laser are reported. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a mixed vanadate crystal is used as the gain medium in an LD-pumped microchip laser. When the incident pump power was 6.16 W, the CW laser output was 2.09 W, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 33.9% and a slope efficiency of 37.9%. Using a Cr4+:VAG crystal as the saturable absorber as well as the output coupler, the pulse width, pulse energy, and peak power were 1.17 ns, 39.5 mu J, and 33.8 kW, respectively. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.