Minority carrier lifetime in mid-wavelength infrared InAs/InAsSb superlattices: Photon recycling and the role of radiative and Shockley-Read-Hall recombination mechanisms

The influence of radiative recombination on the minority carrier lifetime in mid-wavelength InAs/InAsSb superlattices was investigated. From the lifetime's dependence on temperature, photon recycling, and carrier concentration, it was demonstrated that radiative lifetime dominates for carrier concentrations >5 × 1014 cm−3, and Shockley-Read-Hall recombination starts to dominate the minority carrier lifetime for carrier concentrations <5 × 1014 cm−3. An observed increase of the minority carrier lifetime with increasing superlattice thickness was attributed to photon recycling, and good agreement between measured and theoretical values of the photon recycling factor was obtained.