Fast steady-state algorithms for the analysis of nonlinear dispersive, distributed planar electromagnetic structures, excited by periodic waveforms

We investigate the steady-state electromagnetic field scattered by a nonlinear, frequency-dispersive magnetic or dielectric structure excited by a periodic field. For a planar structure under normal incidence, a 1D model holds, which can be simply interpreted in terms of a nonlinear, dispersive scalar or vector transmission line. The problem is solved by spatially discretizing the electric and magnetic fields; then, the lumped system is analyzed by means of fast algorithms for the steady-state analysis of nonlinear systems under periodic excitation. A comparative performance analysis of such algorithms (time-domain: shooting and extrapolation methods; frequency-domain: harmonic balance method) is carried out on case studies for both the dispersionless and dispersive cases. The results obtained show that time-domain techniques compare favourably to frequency-domain methods