The absorption spectrum of a new crystal, Nd:Sr5sVO4d3F (Nd:S-VAP), was measured, which showed thatNd:S-VAP can be suitably pumped at 583.0 and 809.0nm as well as with a xenon flash lamp. With atunable dye laser (570-600nm) and a xenon flash lamp as pump sources, respectively, the free-running andQ-switched outputs with BDN dye film were realized at 1.065mm. For the tunable dye-laser pump sourcethe threshold energy is 2mJ and the slope eff iciency is 50%, while for the xenon f lash-lamp pump source thelowest threshold energy is 130mJ and the highest slope efficiency is 1.3%. The laser characteristics, such asthe emission spectrum, the polarization, the output energy, and the pulse width, were measured. In addition,the prospect of a Nd:S-VAP crystal for low-threshold, high-eff iciency miniature lasers is discussed.