PHOTOINDUCED ANISOTROPY AND POLARIZATION MEMORY OF THE PHOTOLUMINESCENCE IN GERMANIUM SULFIDE GLASSES

Optical anisotropies, caused by the illumination of chalcogenide glass es with polarized light, have been observed experimentally through mea surements of, for instance, dichroism and birefringence of an illumina ted sample. Polarization memory of the photoluminescence has been cons idered in the past as a further way to obtain information about the ph otoinduced anisotropies. It is shown that the latter is not correct an d that, consequently, photoluminescence polarization memory cannot be used to help discern between various proposals for the structural rear rangements that underlie the photoinduced changes in the optical prope rties. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.