Origin of anomalous enhancement of the absorption coefficient in a PN junction*

Abstract

The absorption coefficient is usually considered as a constant for certain materials at the given wavelength. However, recent experiments demonstrated that the absorption coefficient could be enhanced a lot by the PN junction. The absorption coefficient varies with the thickness of the intrinsic layer in a PIN structure. Here, we interpret the anomalous absorption coefficient from the competition between recombination and drift for non-equilibrium carriers. Based on the Fokker–Planck theory, a non-equilibrium statistical model that describes the relationship between absorption coefficient and material thickness has been proposed. It could predict the experimental data well. Our results can give new ideas to design photoelectric devices.