Basics of the FDFD Method

Abstract

This chapter presents a brief introduction to the FDFD method, which is an extended version to the finite difference method. The construction of the finite difference method from a given differential equation will thus be illustrated, which essentially involves estimating derivatives numerically. Furthermore, since the first step in constructing an FDFD algorithm is to discretize the computational domain into cells and define the locations of the electric and magnetic field vectors on each cell; the Yee cell will also be presented in this chapter where the locations of the field vector components are defined. A perfectly matched layer (PML), as an absorbing boundary, is used to terminate the computational domain.