The effects of photon recycling are examined in a general, fully numerical, two-dimensional model accounting for the detailed geometry of the device and the spectral content of the recombined excess carriers. The primary component of this model is a three-dimensional ray tracing algorithm which encompasses effects such as wavelength dependent absorption and index of refraction, the angular dependence of transmissivity between layers in a heterostructure device, and multiple reflections within a device. This ray tracing preprocessing step is used to map all of the possible trajectories and absorption of various wavelengths of emitted light from each originating node within the device. These data are integrated into a macroscopic device simulator to determine the spatial and temporal location of the reabsorbed radiation within the geometry of the device. By incorporating the ray tracer results with the total quantity and spectral content of recombined carriers at each node within the simulation, the recycled generation rate can be obtained. To demonstrate the use of this model, the effects of photon recycling on the carrier lifetime in an InP/InGaAs double heterostructure photodiode are presented. Good agreement between the experimentally measured lifetime and that predicted using photon recycling is obtained. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.