Finite-difference time-domain modeling of curved material interfaces by using boundary condition equations method

To deal with the staircase approximation problem in the standard finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation, the two-dimensional boundary condition equations (BCE) method is proposed in this paper. In the BCE method, the standard FDTD algorithm can be used as usual, and the curved surface is treated by adding the boundary condition equations. Thus, while maintaining the simplicity and computational efficiency of the standard FDTD algorithm, the BCE method can solve the staircase approximation problem. The BCE method is validated by analyzing near field and far field scattering properties of the PEC and dielectric cylinders. The results show that the BCE method can maintain a second-order accuracy by eliminating the staircase approximation errors. Moreover, the results of the BCE method show good accuracy for cylinder scattering cases with different permittivities. (paper)