This monograph is a comprehensive presentation of state-of-the-art methodologies that can dramatically enhance the efficiency of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique, the most popular electromagnetic field solver of the time-domain form of Maxwell's equations. These methodologies are aimed at optimally tailoring the computational resources needed for the wideband simulation of microwave and optical structures to their geometry, as well as the nature of the field solutions they support. That is achieved by the development of robust “adaptive meshing” approaches, which amount to varying the total number of unknown field quantities in the course of the simulation to adapt to temporally or spatially localized field features. While mesh adaptation is an extremely desirable FDTD feature, known to reduce simulation times by orders of magnitude, it is not always robust. The specific techniques presented in this book are characterized by stability and robustness. Therefore, they are excellent computer analysis and design (CAD) tools. The book starts by introducing the FDTD technique, along with challenges related to its application to the analysis of real-life microwave and optical structures. It then proceeds to developing an adaptive mesh refinement method based on the use of multiresolution analysis and, more specifically, the Haar wavelet basis. Furthermore, a new method to embed a moving adaptive mesh in FDTD, the dynamically adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) FDTD technique, is introduced and explained in detail. To highlight the properties of the theoretical tools developed in the text, a number of applications are presented, including: Microwave integrated circuits (microstrip filters, couplers, spiral inductors, cavities). Optical power splitters, Y-junctions, and couplers Optical ring resonators Nonlinear optical waveguides. Building on first principles of time-domain electromagnetic simulations, this book presents advanced concepts and cutting-edge modeling techniques in an intuitive way for programmers, engineers, and graduate students. It is designed to provide a solid reference for highly efficient time-domain solvers, employed in a wide range of exciting applications in microwave/millimeter-wave and optical engineering.

Master powerful new modeling tools that let you quantify and represent metamaterial properties with never-before accuracy. This first-of-its-kind book brings you up to speed on breakthrough finite-difference time-domain techniques for modeling metamaterial characteristics and behaviors in electromagnetic systems. This practical resource comes complete with sample FDTD scripts to help you pave the way to new metamaterial applications and advances in antenna, microwave, and optics engineering. You get in-depth coverage of state-of-the-art FDTD modeling techniques and applications for electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures, left-handed metamaterials (LHMs), wire medium, metamaterials for optics, and other practical metamaterials. You find steps for computing dispersion diagrams, dealing with material dispersion properties, and verifying the left-handedness. Moreover, this comprehensive volume offers guidance for handling the unique properties possessed by metamaterials, including how to define material parameters, characterize the interface of metamaterial slabs, and quantify their spatial as well as frequency dispersion characteristics. The book also presents conformal and dispersive FDTD modeling of electromagnetic cloaks, perfect lens, and plasmonic waveguides, as well as other novel antenna, microwave, and optical applications. Over 190 illustrations support key topics throughout the book.

Metamaterials and plasmonics are cross-disciplinary fields that are emerging into the mainstream of many scientific areas. Examples of scientific and technical fields which are concerned are electrical engineering, micro- and nanotechnology, microwave engineering, optics, optoelectronics, and semiconductor technologies. In plasmonics, the interplay between propagating electromagnetic waves and free-electron oscillations in materials are exploited to create new components and applications. On the other hand, metamaterials refer to artificial composites in which small artificial elements, through their collective interaction, creates a desired and unexpected macroscopic response function that is not present in the constituent materials. This book charts the state of the art of these fields. In May 2008, world-leading experts in metamaterials and plasmonics gathered into a NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Marrakech, Morocco. The present book contains extended versions of 22 of the presentations held in the workshop, covering the general aspects of the field, as well as design and modelling questions of plasmonics and metamaterials, fabrication issues, and applications like absorbers and antennas.

This the second volume of six from the Annual Conference of the Society for Experimental Mechanics, 2010, brings together 40 chapters on Microelectromechanical Systems and Nanotechnology. It presents early findings from experimental and computational investigations on MEMS and Nanotechnology including contributions on Nanomechanical Standards, Magneto-mechanical MEMS Sensors, Piezoelectric MEMS for Energy Harvesting, and Linear and Nonlinear Mass Sensing.

Metamaterials have attracted enormous interests from both physics and engineering communities in the past 20 years, owing to their powerful ability in manipulating electromagnetic waves. However, the functionalities of traditional metamaterials are fixed at the time of fabrication. To control the EM waves dynamically, active components are introduced to the meta-atoms, yielding active metamaterials. Recently, a special kind of active metamaterials, digital coding and programmable metamaterials, are proposed, which can achieve dynamically controllable functionalities using field programmable gate array (FPGA). Most importantly, the digital coding representations of metamaterials set up a bridge between the digital world and physical world, and allow metamaterials to process digital information directly, leading to information metamaterials. In this Element, we review the evolution of information metamaterials, mainly focusing on their basic concepts, design principles, fabrication techniques, experimental measurement and potential applications. Future developments of information metamaterials are also envisioned.