We present an analytical study of the alternating-direction implicit finite-difference time-domain (ADI-FDTD) method for solving time-varying Maxwell's equations and compare its accuracy with that of the Crank-Nicolson (CN) and Yee FDTD schemes. The closed form of the truncation error is obtained for two and three dimensions. The dependence of the truncation error on the square of the time step multiplied by the spatial derivatives of the fields is found to be a unique feature of the ADI-FDTD scheme. We illustrate the limitation on accuracy imposed by these truncation error terms by simulating a simple parallel-plate structure excited by a low-frequency voltage source. Excellent agreement is obtained between field data computed with the implicit CN scheme using time steps greatly exceeding the Courant limit and field data computed with the explicit Yee scheme. Such results are not obtained with ADI-FDTD.

Graphene-based devices constitute a pioneering field of research for their extraordinary electromagnetic properties. The incorporation of appropriate models into numerical simulators is necessary in order to take advantage of these properties. In this work, we propose a method to incorporate graphene-sheet models into the FDTD method. The use of vector-fitting techniques expands the permittivity of graphene into a rational function series of complex conjugate pole-residue pairs, which is implemented into FDTD by an auxiliary differential equation formulation. Simple waveguiding problems validate our approach.

The simulation of highly resonant structures requires techniques that are accurate and free of spurious-mode contamination. Spurious modes can severely corrupt the solution of a physical problem, and their suppression is a must for any numerical scheme in the frequency or in the time domain (TD). In this paper, we present the application of a highly accurate spurious-free vector discontinuous Galerkin TD method to waveguide applications. We show that spurious solutions (which increase with the number of degrees of freedom of the problem) can be efficiently attenuated by using penalized fluxes. For validation, we apply our approach to the simulation of microwave filters since their highly resonant behavior is challenging for TD techniques.

We summarize the boundary and source implementation for the several formulations of the discontinuous Galerkin time domain method (DGTD). Since DGTD with zeroth-order scalar basis functions using the upwind flux, coincides with the finite volume time domain (FVTD), many of the concepts developed for FVTD can be ported to DGTD in any of its different formulations (scalar/vector basis, upwind/centered flux). Numerical examples illustrate the different alternatives.

This paper presents a short tutorial and overview of optimization algorithms based on particle-swarm schemes, and their application to solving electromagnetic problems. As a practical example, a particle-swarm optimization (PSO) tool has been applied in conjunction with the Numerical Electromagnetics Code (NEC) to get the design curves of optimized log-periodic dipole arrays (LPDAs). The graphs show the performance of several radiation parameters (directive gain, front-to-back ratio, bandwidth, SWR, and half-power beamwidth in the E and H planes) as a function of typical design parameters of log-periodic dipole arrays (geometrical parameters and characteristics of the feed). Examples of optimized antennas are given, and their performance is compared to that of standard log-periodic dipole arrays.

This paper presents a computational procedure to simulate the time-domain behavior of photoconductive antennas made of semiconductor and metal materials. Physical modeling of semiconductor devices at terahertz regime can be achieved by applying joint electronic and electromagnetic procedures, e.g., solving a coupled system of equations inferred from Poisson's drift-diffusion and Maxwell's equations. A set of discrete equations are derived by applying a combined finite-difference methodology for the previous steady-state and the finite-difference time-domain procedure for the transient regime. The results for the radiated electric field at broadside direction show good agreement with the experimental results previously reported in the literature.