Methods V2O5 NWs were grown by PVD using high-purity V2O5 powder as the source material and mixed O2/Ar as the carrier gas. The growth temperature was 550°C, and the pressure was 0.3 Torr. The details of material growth can be found in our earlier publications [25, 26]. The morphology, structure, and crystalline quality of the as-grown V2O5 NWs were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and selected-area

electron diffraction (SAD). Electrical contacts of the two-terminal single-NW devices were fabricated by focused ion beam (FIB; FEI MCC950 supplier Quanta 3D FEG, FEI Company, Hillsboro, OR, USA) deposition using platinum (Pt) as the metal electrode. Individual NWs were EPZ5676 supplier dispersed on the insulating Si3N4/n-Si or SiO2/n-Si template with pre-patterned Ti/Au microelectrodes prior to FIB deposition. Electrical measurements were carried out on

an ultralow-current leakage cryogenic probe station (TTP4, LakeShore Cryotronics, Inc., Westerville, OH, USA). A semiconductor characterization system (4200-SCS, Keithley Instruments Inc., Cleveland, OH, USA) was utilized to source dc bias and measure current. He-Cd gas laser and diode laser were used to source excitation lights with wavelengths (λ) at 325 and 808 nm for the PC measurements, respectively. The incident power of laser crotamiton was measured by a calibrated power meter (Ophir

Nova II, Ophir mTOR inhibitor Optronics, Jerusalem, Israel) with a silicon photodiode head (Ophir PD300-UV). A UV holographic diffuser was used to broaden laser beam size (approximately 20 mm2) to minimize error in power density calculation. Results and discussion A typical FESEM image of V2O5 NW ensembles grown as described above on silicon substrate prepared by PVD is shown in Figure  1a. The micrograph reveals partial V2O5 1D nanostructures with slab-like morphology. The diameter (d), which is defined as the width of the NWs with relatively symmetric cross section, is in the range of 100 to 800 nm. The length usually is longer than 10 μm. The XRD pattern shows the predominant diffraction peaks at 20.3° and 41.2° (Figure  1b), which is consistent with the (001) and (002) orientations of the orthorhombic structure (JCPDS no. 41–1426). The Raman spectrum shows the eight signals at positions of 145 cm-1 (B1g/B3g), 197 cm-1 (Ag/B2g), 284 cm-1 (B1g/B3g), 304 cm-1 (Ag), 405 cm-1 (Ag), 481 cm-1 (Ag), 703 cm-1 (B1g/B3g), and 994 cm-1 (Ag), which correspond to the phonon modes in previous reports [17, 27, 28], further confirming the orthorhombic crystalline structure of the V2O5 NWs (Figure  1c). Two major Raman peaks at low-frequency positions of 145 and 197 cm-1 that originated from the banding mode of (V2O2) n also indicate the long-range order layered structure of V2O5 NWs.