A semivectorial finite-difference time-domain method (optical guided structure simulation)

A semivectorial finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) that solves the vector wave equations for the transverse electric fields is presented and validated. By taking into consideration the boundary conditions for the transverse, electric fields in the finite-difference scheme, the polarization effect of the electromagnetic waves can be modeled. In comparison with the full vector FDTD, the present approach requires less memory and is more computational efficient. The method is validated by a comparison with the exact analytical solutions as well as the full vector FDTD results and is shown to be very accurate.>