In this work we present a structure consisting of a semiconductor sample im
mersed between two one-dimensional photonic crystals, designed with the aim
to investigate the possibility to increase radiative lifetime in infrared
photodetectors, i.e., to decrease the background radiation limit. Since we
used a HgCdTe detector for the detection of CO2 laser radiation, we formed
a defect in the front-side photonic crystal with the transmission peak on 1
0.6 mu m. Our numerical calculations show that the 1-D photonic crystal str
uctures at the front and at the back side of the semiconductor sample signi
ficantly increase the radiative lifetime in the photodetector. (C) 1999 Els
evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.