Comparative strengths of a pseudo-spectral time domain method in numerical simulation of single particle optical scattering

We present some results on the relative performance of the pseudo-spectral time domain, finite difference time domain, and DDA methods in calculating single-particle optical scattering properties. Our interest is in particles with size parameters in excess of 10. Using as test case a homogeneous spherical particle we have found that the pseudospectral time domain method is generally more efficient (uses less cpu time for a given accuracy) than the finite-difference time domain method. The DDA method appears to be superior to the pseudo-spectral method for indices of refraction less than 1.5, but as the index of refraction increases, the pseudo-spectral method becomes superior. We present here some results for particles with size parameters 10 and 30, and indices of refraction 1.3117 and 1.7.