An efficient numerical method for simulating two-dimensional non-periodic metasurfaces

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel numerical method that efficiently simulates large two-dimensional non-periodic metasurfaces with high accuracy, significantly reducing computational resources needed for design and analysis.

Contribution

The paper presents a new numerical approach combining Neumann-to-Dirichlet operators, finite element method, and local expansions to efficiently simulate large metasurfaces with fewer unknowns.

Findings

Capable of simulating 10^5 subwavelength elements on a personal computer.

Maintains high accuracy compared to classical methods.

Reduces computational time and memory usage significantly.

Abstract

Metasurfaces are extremely useful for controlling and manipulating electromagnetic waves. Full-wave numerical simulation is highly desired for their design and optimization, but it is notoriously difficult, even for two-dimensional metasurfaces, when they comprise a huge number of subwavelength elements. This paper focuses on two-dimensional non-periodic metasurfaces that contain only a relatively small number of distinct subwavelength elements. We develop an efficient numerical method based on Neumann-to-Dirichlet operators, the finite element method and local function expansions. Our method drastically reduces the total number of unknowns and is capable of simulating two-dimensional metasurfaces with $10^{5}$ subwavelength elements on a personal computer. Numerical examples demonstrate that the method maintains high accuracy while offering significant advantages in both computational time and memory usage compared to the classical full-domain finite element method, making it particularly suited for the analysis of large metasurfaces.