In this work, an iterative approach using the finite difference frequency domain method is presented to solve the problem of scattering from large-scale electromagnetic structures. The idea of the proposed iterative approach is to divide one computational domain into smaller subregions and solve each subregion separately. Then the subregion solutions are combined iteratively to obtain a solution for the complete domain. As a result, a considerable reduction in the computation time and memory is achieved. This procedure is referred to as the iterative multiregion (IMR) technique. Different enhancement procedures are investigated and introduced toward the construction of this technique. These procedures are the following: 1) a hybrid technique combining the IMR technique and a method of moment technique is found to be efficient in producing accurate results with a remarkable computer memory saving; 2) the IMR technique is implemented on a parallel platform that led to a tremendous computational time saving; 3) together, the multigrid technique and the incomplete lower and upper preconditioner are used with the IMR technique to speed up the convergence rate of the final solution, which reduces the total computational time. Thus, the proposed iterative technique, in conjunction with the enhancement procedures, introduces a novel approach to solving large open-boundary electromagnetic problems including unconnected objects in an efficient and robust way. Contents: Basics of the FDFD Method / IMR Technique for Large-Scale Electromagnetic Scattering Problems: 3D Case / IMR Technique for Large-Scale Electromagnetic Scattering Problems: 2D Case / The IMR Algorithm Using a Hybrid FDFD and Method of Moments Technique / Parallelization of the Iterative Multiregion Technique / Combined Multigrid Technique and IMR Algorithm / Concluding Remarks / Appendices

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Mohamed H. Al Sharkawy was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1978. He graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Arab Academy for Science and Technology (AAST), Alexandria, Egypt, on June 2000 and received both his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Mississippi on October 2003 and December 2006, respectively. He worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Electrical Engineering Department at The University of Mississippi from December 2006 until June 2007. He was nominated a membership in the Sigma Xi society in 2004. He received The University of Mississippi Graduate Achievement Award in Electrical Engineering for 2005. He also received the best student paper award presented at the Applied Computational Electromagnetic Society (ACES) Symposium on March 2006. Dr. Al Sharkawy is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the ACES. He has been serving as an assistant to the editor-in-chief for the ACES Journal since 2004. He has authored and coauthored more than 30 technical journals and conference papers. Dr. Al Sharkawy is currently an assistant professor at the Electronics and Communications Department at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Egypt. His research interests include electromagnetic scattering from parallel chiral and metamaterial cylinders and the application of finite difference time and frequency domain techniques for the analysis and design of antennas and microwave devices.