In his work, thin YVO4 films were deposited on amorphous SiO2, substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Ceramic targets of pure and doped (Er and Er, Yb) YVO4 were prepared and used for ablation. The influence of the substrate temperature and oxygen pressure applied during the depositions was investigated. Crystalline films were obtained at temperatures higher than 500 degrees C. The films with the best crystallinity were obtained at 5 Pa oxygen pressure and 700 degrees C substrate temperature. All the films are transparent in the visible and near infrared region of spectra. The crystalline samples show difference in the refractive indexes Delta n (Delta n = n(TE) -n(TM)) for the TE and TM polarizations. It was evaluated to be about 0.08. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.