Hybridization of electromagnetic numerical methods through the G-matrix algorithm

For the sake of numerical performance, we hybridize two common approaches often used in electromagnetic computations, namely the finite-element method and the aperiodic Fourier modal method. To that end, we propose an extension of the classical S-matrix formalism to numerical situations, which requires handling different mathematical representations of the electromagnetic fields. As shown with a three-dimensional example, the proposed G-matrix formalism is stable and allows for an enhanced performance in terms of numerical accuracy and efficiency. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.