Higher-order time-domain methods for the analysis of nano-photonic systems

In this work, we investigate the use of higher-order Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods for time-domain computations of nano-photonic systems. We briefly discuss the implementation of such methods and comment on several important extensions such as Perfectly Matched Layers (PMLs), sources and dispersive materials. In particular, we propose a novel way to accurately implement delta-like point sources and we present a detailed study on the performance of PMLs within the DG framework. We demonstrate that the PML-performance may be substantially improved through an appropriate choice of the absorption profile. Finally, we employ our specific version of the DG method to certain plasmonic systems such as silver cylinders and nano-structured metallic films. (C) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.