Porous and sol-gel glasses were incorporated by a laser dye Perylimide Red (Lumogen Red 305) and their optical properties studied under continuous and femtosecond excitation. Under steady state the spectroscopic characteristics of the two types of glasses are identical. Under femtosecond excitation in the porous glasses in addition to normal fluorescence two types of excimers are found. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.