Coherent dynamic property of neodymium yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) crystal at 77 K is studied via the conventional absorption, the femtosecond fringe-resolved wave packet interferometry, and the related difference-phase spectrum. The recorded interferogram exhibits beatings in subpicosecond time scale arising from the interferences among various weakly split 4f-electronic states and the coupled vibronic optical phonon sidebands. The electron-phonon coupling in Nd:YAG can be well described by multiple Brownian oscillators model involving in each individual electronic transition. The parameters for characterizing material coherence and relaxation are determined via the theoretical modelings of both the frequency and the time-domain experimental signals. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.