A hybrid finite-element / finite-difference method with implicit-explicit time stepping scheme for Maxwell's equations

A hybrid scheme for time-domain electromagnetic simulations, combining the explicit finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and the implicit finite-element time-domain (FETD) method, is developed. In the hybrid method, the FETD part uses the unconditionally stable Crank-Nicholson method; while the standard FDTD part employs staggered Cartesian grid for spatial discretization and the leap-frog scheme for time stepping. Non-conforming meshes are allowed between the FETD and the FDTD sub-domains. The hybrid method takes advantages of the modeling flexibility of the FETD method for complex structures and the efficiency of the FDTD method for simple structures. The hybrid implicit-explicit time stepping scheme allows time steps as long as the stability limit for the FDTD method, which can be much larger than the stability criterion of the explicit FETD scheme with small elements. Numerical examples demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.