We present experimental investigation on quasi_three_level Nd:YVO4 laser operation at 914 nm

under 879 nm diode pumping directly into emitting level. A maximal output power of 3.0 W under an

absorbed pump power of 13.4 W was got, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 22.4% and a

slope efficiency of 40.3%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on a Nd:YVO4 laser at 914 nm

using rod_type single crystal as the gain medium and end pumped by diode directly into emitting level