Comparative Study of Three Wave Propagation Software Programs for the Modeling of Coupled Maxwell and Boltzmann Equations at THz Frequency

The modeling of optoelectronic devices operating at THz frequency requires self consistently solving the Maxwell equations and the Boltzmann transport equation. In this article, it is the numerical method for solving Maxwell’s equations that is debated in the frame of its ability to be combined with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society journal 2009-08, Vol.24 (4), p.382
Main Authors: Tissafi, B, Aniel, F, Pichon, L, Essakhi, B, Guiffaut, C, Lepaul, S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Boltzmann transport equation
Comparative studies
Coplanar waveguides
Coupling
Finite difference time domain method
Finite element method
Mathematical analysis
Mathematical models
Maxwell's equations
Numerical methods
Optoelectronic devices
Software
Terahertz frequencies
Wave propagation
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Summary:The modeling of optoelectronic devices operating at THz frequency requires self consistently solving the Maxwell equations and the Boltzmann transport equation. In this article, it is the numerical method for solving Maxwell’s equations that is debated in the frame of its ability to be combined with transport equations. For this purpose, three software programs mainly devoted to the simulation of 3D electromagnetic equations in time-domain (one based on a 3D finite element method and two on 3D FDTD methods) are first presented and compared. The structure used for the modeling comparison is a coplanar waveguide structure. Results provided by the three solvers are compared according to two factors of merit. Then, the coupling of Maxwell and Boltzmann equations in the FDTD frame is briefly presented and the difficulties to use other methods are explained, showing that the variable-mesh FDTD method is most suitable for such a coupling.
ISSN:1054-4887
1943-5711