On the use of a hybrid IE/FDTD method for the analysis of electromagnetic scattering and coupling problems

We present a hybrid time-domain numerical technique for analyzing electromagnetic scattering and coupling problems. This hybrid technique consists of combining the time-domain integral equation (IE) and the finite difference time-domain (FDTD) methods. This approach eliminates some of the computational difficulties of using a standard FDTD methodology. One problem with such a hybrid technique is that unwanted reflections can occur at the IE/FDTD boundary. In this paper, we introduce a technique to reduce these unwanted reflections. We present various examples illustrating how the IE/FDTD hybrid approach can be used to solve EMC problems.