In this paper, the non-doped and doped Yb3+ of GdVO4 crystals whose polycrystalline material was synthesized by the liquid-phase reaction method were grown by the Czochralski method. The sinter temperature can be concluded by thermal analysis. The influence of the thermal gradient on the crystal quality, the segregate coefficient of Yb3+ ion in the crystal, the transparence spectrum of the non-doped GdVO4 crystal and the effect of lattice structure on the absorption spectra and the fluorescence spectra are discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.