Electromagnetic metamaterial simulations using a GPU-accelerated FDTD method

Metamaterials composed of artificial subwavelength structures exhibit extraordinary properties that cannot be found in nature. Designing artificial structures having exceptional properties plays a pivotal role in current metamaterial research. We present a new numerical simulation scheme for metamaterial research. The scheme is based on a graphic processing unit (GPU)-accelerated finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The FDTD computation can be significantly accelerated when GPUs are used instead of only central processing units (CPUs). We explain how the fast FDTD simulation of large-scale metamaterials can be achieved through communication optimization in a heterogeneous CPU/GPU-based computer cluster. Our method also includes various advanced FDTD techniques: the non-uniform grid technique, the total-field/scattered-field (TFSF) technique, the auxiliary field technique for dispersive materials, the running discrete Fourier transform, and the complex structure setting. We demonstrate the power of our new FDTD simulation scheme by simulating the negative refraction of light in a coaxial waveguide metamaterial.