Impact of lattice distortions on elastic and thermal behavior of La doped YVO3

•Effect of lattice distortions on bulk modulus and thermal properties is presented.•Specific heat increases with increasing doping level and temperature.•The stability of YVO3 increases with the La substitution.

The thermodynamic study of vanadates is particularly interesting, as these compounds undergo multiple orbital and magnetic ordering transitions resulting in structural phase transitions as a function of temperature. The elastic and thermal properties have been computed by considering the intriguing temperature dependent structural phase transitions. A detailed investigation of lattice distortions, bulk modulus, cohesive energy and Debye temperature of the doped vanadium compounds Y1−xLaxVO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) has been accomplished. The temperature dependence of specific heat (1 K ≤ T ≤ 300 K) and low temperature thermal expansion is probed over the whole doping range. The results obtained are compared with the earlier experimental data to validate the application of modified rigid ion model to describe elastic and thermal behavior of the La doped YVO3.