Electromagnetic Analysis of Magnetized Plasma Using Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method

Abstract

In this thesis, I use H-J collocated finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and E-J collocated FDTD method to investigate the electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation through the ionosphere. The reflection coefficient, the transmission coefficient, and the Faraday rotation are studied for the one-dimensional structure and I also simulate the three-dimensional structure to study the Faraday rotation. The computational accuracy of the H-J collocated FDTD method and E-J collocated FDTD method is investigated by calculating the numerical permittivity tensor. It is found that the computational accuracy of the two methods is similar. In addition, the computational efficiency of both algorithms is studied and it turns out that the H-J collocated FDTD method is more efficient than the E-J collocated FDTD method in terms of computational efficiency. In conclusion, it is recommended to employ a more efficient H-J collocated FDTD formulation to study EM wave propagation in the ionosphere.