ELASTIC RELAXATION AROUND EXCITED CR3+ IONS IN ED-2

A photothermal detection technique is used to measure the bulk expansion caused by the elastic relaxation around an excited Cr 3+ ion in silicate glass. Within the approximation by an elastic continuum this expansion is related to the local expansion of the CrO 6 complex. The microscopic local change in glass is smaller than in a comparable crystal host. This observation indicates elastic relaxations around the excited Cr 3+ ion specific to the amorphous glass structure