Abstract
Approximate analytical expressions are derived for the mean gain and the excess noise factor of avalanche photodiodes including the effect of dead space. The analysis is based on undertaking a characteristic-equation approach to obtain an approximate analytical solution to the existing system of recurrence equations which characterize the statistics of the random multiplication gain. The analytical expressions for the excess noise factor and the mean gain are shown to be in good agreement with the exact results obtained from numerical solutions of the recurrence equations for values of the dead space reaching up to 20% of the width of the multiplication region.