Disorder and nonradiative decay of<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">Cr</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>-doped glasses

This paper describes experimental studies of the distributions of ligand field sites occupied by ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$ dopant ions in inorganic glasses with different chemical compositions. The effects of site-to-site disorder are observed via the steady-state spectral band-shape and decay patterns of $^{4}$${\mathit{T}}_{2}$${\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}^{4}$${\mathit{A}}_{2}$ and $^{2}$E${\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}^{4}$${\mathit{A}}_{2}$ transitions of ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$ ions and their temperature dependences. The temperature dependence of the emission band shape, calculated on the assumption that the disorder distribution function is a Gaussian, agrees well with the experimental results. In addition, the peak wavelengths of the $^{4}$${\mathit{T}}_{2}$${\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}^{4}$${\mathit{A}}_{2}$ broadbands of ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$ in different glasses are shifted to shorter wavelengths with increasing temperature, and the total intensities of the bands are reduced. These results are explained in terms of nonradiative decay of ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$ ions occupying weaker crystal-field sites.