Thermally induced birefringence and transmission coefficient for several commonly used YAG: Nd crystal rods were calculated theoretically and relations between the transmission coefficient and the polarizer angle and the output power were measured experimentally. The theoretical results are in good agreement with that of experiments. Our results show that when the above mentioned rods are used, if we follow the orientation relations and use the transmission coefficients given in this paper, with a polarizer properly placed in the Laser cavity, then excellent polarized output can be achieved.