Application of the finite-difference time-domain method to electromagnetic scattering from 3-D chiral objects

It is shown how the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method has been adapted to handle electromagnetic wave propagation through chiral media. Two solutions to this problem are presented, enabling the FDTD method to handle propagation through chiral, as well as achiral, media. One solution is exact, involving the recursive (but still parallel) solution of the field update equations. This method produces results comparable to those obtained by theoretical means, as well as by other computational methods (the method of moments). The second solution has been implemented via a scattered-field formulation and has been successfully applied to problems of scattering from three-dimensional chiral objects.<>