A crystal fiber of yttrium scandate YScO 3 doped with Nd 3+ , with a cubic bixbyite-type crystal structure, has been synthesized through laser-heated pedestal growth for the first time. Its crystal structure has been determined using low-temperature (150 K) single-crystal X-ray diffraction: space group Ia3̅ , a = 10.2166(1) Å, R = 0.0177. A new phase was characterized with micro-Raman scattering and fluorescence. Fluorescence excitation measurements show two complex local positions of Nd 3+ in the crystal structure with lifetimes τ 1 = 290 and τ 2 = 250 μs ( 4 F 3/2 multifold) at a temperature T = 77 K.