Numerical estimations of carrier generation-recombination processes and photon recycling effect in 3-<inline-formula><tex-math>${\bm \mu}$</tex-math><math altimg="m1.gif" overflow="scroll"><mrow><mi mathvariant="bold-italic">μ</mi></mrow></math></inline-formula>m n-on-p HgCdTe photodiodes

Abstract

An enhanced original computer program is applied to explain in detail the influence of the photon recycling effect on carrier lifetime in a selected 3-μm n-on-p HgCdTe photodiode structure. The computer program is based on solution of carrier and photon transport equations for practical photodiode design. As a result, both distribution of thermal carrier generation and recombination rates and spatial photon density distribution in photodiode structures have been obtained. It is clearly shown that the photon recycling effect drastically limits the influence of radiative recombination on performance of HgCdTe photodiodes. A general conclusion confirms previous Humpreys' ascertainment that the radiative recombination, although of fundamental nature, does not limit the ultimate performance of HgCdTe photodiodes.