An ADE-FDTD Formulation for the Study of Liquid-Crystal Components in the Terahertz Spectrum

Abstract

An anisotropic auxiliary differential equation finite-difference time-domain formulation is presented in detail for the time-domain study of nematic liquid crystal devices in the terahertz spectrum. The termination of the computation domain is achieved by employing a properly designed convolution perfectly matched layer. The material dispersion and dichroism of the LC complex permittivities is modeled via a modified Lorentzian function that is demonstrated to provide an accurate description for a series of state-of-the-art materials used in LC-THz technology.

Keywords:

• Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method
• auxiliary differential equations
• perfectly matched layer
• anisotropic media
• dispersive media
• liquid crystals
• terahertz technology.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for the Country Promotion, and by the projects PBS 847.