Analysis of the linear and nonlinear time response of a P-i-N photodiode by a two-valley model

The linear and nonlinear time response of a P-i-N photodiode are analyzed in this paper, using the complete phenomenological model for two-valley semiconductors. The analysis has been carried out for several energies of incident pulse excitation, including variations of photodiode thickness. The influence of nonlinear and nonstationary effects is shown. For smaller thicknesses of absorption layer, the nonstationary effects are negligible and nonlinear effects are prominent for larger incident pulse excitation, but for larger thicknesses of absorption layer, the presence of nonstationary effects amplifies nonlinearity and slows down the time response for low incident pulse excitation.