Solute-solvent dynamics and interactions in glassy media: Photon echo and optical hole burning studies of cresyl violet in ethanol glass

Photon echo and non-photochemical hole burning experiments on cresyl violet in ethanol glass are reported. At 1.5 K the optical dephasing time measured by the picosecond echo is eight times longer than the time measured by hole burning because of the difference in the time scales associated with the measurements. The observed temperature dependence arises from the glass's two-level systems and from a pseudolocal phonon mode at higher temperatures. Comparing the ratios of the echo to hole burning dephasing times for cresyl violet and resornfin, suggests that their dephasing is influenced by the nature of their ethanol solvation shells in addition to the dynamics of the bulk ethanol.