Electrical transport and quasipersistent photocurrent in vanadium oxide nanowire networks

Electrical conductivity and photoconductivity measurements were carried out on semiconducting vanadium oxide nanowire networks synthesized through the polycondensation of vanadic acid. The temperature-dependent conductivity was described well by Mott's optical multiphonon assisted hopping model at high temperatures and by the variable-range hopping mechanism at low temperatures. The photoconductivity showed a weak temperature dependence. Besides, quasipersistent photocurrent with a single-exponential decay behavior was observed right after switching off the light and was explained in terms of the random local-potential fluctuation model. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.