Comparison between narrow-angle-band and wide-angle-band spatio-temporal FEM and FD BPM codes for the propagation of ultrashort optical pulses

An efficient finite-element formulation for the simulation of ultrashort optical pulses is thoroughly presented. This numerical propagator, capable to take into account spatial and temporal effects, incorporates a wide-angle-band Pade approach and perfectly matched layers (PML) at the truncated boundaries. Its effectiveness and higher performance over other similar approaches are clearly demonstrated through key simulations.