Elsevier, Physica B: Condensed Matter, (460), p. 174-179
DOI: 10.1016/j.physb.2014.11.064
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The results of photoconduction study of the Peierls conductors are reviewed. The studied materials are quasi-one-dimensional conductors with the charge-density wave: K$_{0.3}$MoO$_3$, both monoclinic and orthorhombic TaS$_3$ and also a semiconducting phase of NbS$_3$ (phase I). Experimental methods, relaxation times, effects of illumination on linear and nonlinear charge transport, the electric-field effect on photoconduction and results of the spectral studies are described. We demonstrate, in particular, that a simple model of modulated energy gap slightly smoothed by fluctuations fits the available spectral data fairly well. The level of the fluctuations is surprisingly small and does not exceed a few percent of the optical energy gap value. ; Comment: 7 pages, 11 figures. To be published in Physica B