Electromagnetic Properties of Heterostructures: Background and Calculation Methods covers the fundamental aspects of the electromagnetic properties of heterostructures and the theoretical knowledge of the computational techniques needed to understand dielectric phenomena in quantitative and physical terms. The book re-establishes the conceptual foundations of the physics associated with numerical simulation tools of the Laplace or the Poisson equations and shows their immediate implementation. It is relevant for all practicing engineers and materials scientists who develop composite materials that are capable of handling specified technological requirements by utilizing their electromagnetic properties.
Part 1. Elementary concepts and definitions Chapter 1.1 Maxwell equations and basic electromagnetic theory Chapter 1.2 Polarization in a static electric field Chapter 1.3 Polarization and permittivity in an alternating electric field Part 2. Analytical approaches Chapter 2.1 Prelude: A historical examination Chapter 2.2 Some preliminary considerations Chapter 2.3 Mixing laws Chapter 2.4 Effective-medium approximation: its basis and formulation Chapter 2.5 Bounds for the homogenization of dielectric composite materials Chapter 2.6 Percolation: Crossing the great divide of bulk heterogeneous matter Chapter 2.7 Reciprocity relations and extensions Part 3. Computational approaches Chapter 3.1 Some preliminary considerations: the problem in context Chapter 3.2 Finite differences method Chapter 3.3 Finite-difference time-domain propagation Chapter 3.4 Finite element method Chapter 3.5 Integral equation approaches Chapter 3.6 Monte Carlo method Chapter 3.7 Other selected methods Appendices: Section 1: Appendix 1A: Analogy between magnetism, thermal conduction, diffusion, flow in a porous medium, and electrostatics Appendix 1B: Maxwell stress tensor and electrostatic force acting on an isolated body in an electric field Appendix 1C: Electric dipole and polarizability Appendix 1D: Solving Laplace’s equation for the CS spherical model Appendix 1E: Electric modulus Appendix 1F: Mie theory, quasistatic approximation, and discrete dipole approximation for calculating the optical properties of particles Section 2: Appendix 2A: Microstructure characterization and statistical descriptors Appendix 2B: Percus-Yevick integral equation Appendix 2C: Selected mixing laws Appendix 2D: Herglotz function, sum rules, and bounds on the effective permittivity Appendix 2E: Incremental MG formalism for homogenizing particulate composite media
Christian Brosseau is Professor of Physics at the Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France where he led the wave–matter interaction modelling and simulation group. His research interests include electromagnetic wave propagation in complex media, plasmonics, nanophysics, biological physics, and computational materials physics.
