  High resolution low-temperature absorption spectra of 0.2% Pr^3+ doped
CsCdBr_3 were measured in the spectral region 2000--7000 cm-1. Positions and
widths of the crystal field levels within the 3H5, 3H4, 3F2, and 3F3 multiplets
of the Pr^3+ main center have been determined. Hyperfine structure of several
spectral lines has been found. Crystal field calculations were carried out in
the framework of the semiphenomenological exchange charge model (ECM).
Parameters of the ECM were determined by fitting to the measured total
splittings of the 3H4 and 3H6 multiplets and to the observed in this work
hyperfine splittings of the crystal field levels. One- and two-phonon
relaxation rates were calculated using the phonon Green's functions of the
perfect (CsCdBr_3) and locally perturbed (impurity dimer centers in
CsCdBr_3:Pr^3+) crystal lattice. Comparison with the measured linewidths
confirmed an essential redistribution of the phonon density of states in
CsCdBr_3 crystals doped with rare-earth ions.
