In this paper, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and synchrotron radiation white beam X-ray topography (SRWBT) are applied to study the topography and growth defects in Nd:YVO4 laser crystal. The ESEM topographic images of crack surface and the SRWBT topographic images of crystal defects are obtained, through which defects such as dislocations and inclusions are observed, which are useful for growing high-quality laser crystal Nd:YVO4 by the pulling method.