PHOTOINDUCED THRESHOLD SWITCHING IN V2O5 CRYSTALS.

Pulsed local heating is used to form VO//2 channels in V//2O//5 crystals; these channels exhibit a semiconductor-metal phase transition. When the structured channels formed in this manner are subjected to a beam from a ruby laser, photoinduced switching takes place in which the conductivity increases by three or four orders of magnitude. Experimental results are reported on the dynamics of this process in V//2O//5 crystals for various characteristics of the optical excitation, for various bias voltages in the switching channel, and at various temperatures.