An improved general model for stacked PIN photovoltiac infrared photodetectors

An improved general model to predict the ultimate performance of photovoltaic infrared photodetectors based on non-equilibrium carriers diffusion, and recombination properties of narrow bandgap semiconductors is presented. Optimal thickness of intrinsic absorption layer (Wopt), response quantum efficiency (RQE), detectivity (D*), −3dB cut-off frequency (f−3dB), are calculated and optimized for stacked PIN GaInAsSb/GaSb photodetectors. Ways to achieve optimal performance in practice, material and device structures are proposed.