Matched absorbing medium techniques for full-wave tlm simulation of microwave and millimeter-wave components

This paper investigates the absorbing layer techniques for three-dimensional transmission-line matrix (3d-tlm) simulations. Applications are the full-wave analysis of structures such as microwave and millimeter-wave circuits open to free space. Two approaches are presented, namely the matched layer (ml) and the perfectly matched layer (pml) technique which is used for general cases. For the ml technique, which is efficient for matching guides operating in a quasi-TEM condition, a comparison of the different tlm condensed node is carried out. Concerning the more general case of the pml technique, the theoretical development of a new general three-dimensional (3d) tlm condensed cell is presented. Results pertaining to the characterization of planar circuits are compared with other solutions or measurements. It is found that a proposed unified approach, which includes the tlm simulation for matched layer media, yields very good performance in terms of the absorbing boundary condition (abc).