An FDTD method for the simulation of dispersive metallic structures

In this paper, we present a formulation of the finite-difference time-domain method for the simulation of metallic structures. The frequency dependent dielectric function of metals is approximated by a combined Drude–Lorentzian multi-pole expansion and fitting errors of only a few percent are obtained. An auxiliary differential equation technique is used to extend the standard FDTD algorithm with the dispersive material equations. The algorithm is validated by calculating reflection and transmission coefficients for thin metal layers, elliptical nano-particles and by simulating a surface plasmon resonance device. Excellent agreement between the FDTD simulations and exact theoretical results are obtained.