Challenges and solutions for the modeling of linear and nonlinear dispersion effects with FDTD

Hardware acceleration equipment has pushed the limits for EM FDTD simulations. The capability to resolve structures in high detail has created a need for more accurate material models. The presented approach can treat any combination of the linear Drude, Debye and Lorentz models and the nonlinear Kerr- and Raman-effects. It is also possible to predict stability limits for any combination thereof. For validation, the algorithm has been implemented in both Matlab code and the full-featured EM FDTD simulation platform SEMCAD X [1]. It has been applied to generic benchmark problems and used to verify existing results.