Photochromism of molybdenum oxide

Molybdenum oxide can exhibit pronounced photochromism and thus might act as an excellent photonic material for a number of technical applications. In the early stage of the research, the attention was focused mainly on the (band) structure, photochromic mechanism and the behavior of the oxide. Later, many investigations were carried out on the factors that might influence the photochromic performance. At the same time, the photochromic response has been extended from UV light to visible light. In this review, the progress in all of these areas will be reviewed thoroughly. (C) 2003 Japanese Photochemistry Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.