The passively Q-switched Nd:YVO 4 /Nd:YVO 4 /Nd:YVO 4 1.06-µm laser has been demonstrated by using Cr 4+ :YAG as saturable absorber. The characteristics are compared under different Nd-doped concentrations of laser crystals and different initial transmissions (T 0 ) of saturable absorbers. With an incident pump power of 6.52 W, the composite Nd(0.1 at.%):YVO 4 /Nd(0.5 at.%):YVO 4 /Nd(1.0 at.%):YVO 4 laser obtained the maximum average output power of 932 mW and the largest single pulse energy of 5.1 µJ when T 0 = 88 %. The shortest pulse width of 25 ns and the highest peak power of 177.4 W were achieved with T 0 = 79 % for the composite Nd(0.1 at.%):YVO 4 / Nd(0.3 at.%):YVO 4 /Nd(0.8 at.%):YVO 4 crystal.