Standing wave resonating cavities have been proposed in the past to increase the performance of infrared detectors by minimizing the volume of photogeneration, hence the noise, while maintaining the same quantum efficiency. We present an approach based on the temporal coupled mode theory to explain their behavior and limitations. If the ratio of the imaginary part of the absorber's dielectric function to the index of the incident medium ε″(d)/n₀ is larger than 1.4, then the absorption cross section σ(a) can attain its maximum value, which for an isolated cavity is approximately 2λ/π. Besides, for σ(a) to exceed the cavity width, the incident medium refractive index must be close to unity. Metallic loss is negligible in the infrared, making those resonators suitable for integration in infrared photodetectors.