On a surprising instability result of Perfectly Matched Layers for Maxwell’s equations in 3D media with diagonal anisotropy

Abstract

The analysis of Cartesian Perfectly Matched Layers (PMLs) in the context of time-domain electromagnetic wave propagation in a 3D unbounded anisotropic homogeneous medium modelled by a diagonal dielectric tensor is presented. Contrary to the 3D scalar wave equation or 2D Maxwell’s equations some diagonal anisotropies lead to the existence of backward waves giving rise to instabilities of the PMLs. Numerical experiments confirm the presented result.