Assigning an Independent Boundary for an Electrostatic Solver

Independent and dependent boundaries enable you to model planes of periodicity where the E-field at every point on the dependent boundary surface is forced to match the E-field of every corresponding point on the independent boundary surface. The transformation used to map the E-field from the independent to the dependent is determined by specifying a coordinate system on both the independent and dependent boundaries.

To set an independent boundary:

1. Select the face to which you want to assign the independent boundary.
2. Click Maxwell > Boundaries > Assign > Matching > Independent.
   The Independent Boundary window appears.
3. Enter a name for the boundary in the Name box, or accept the default.
4. In the Coordinate System section, do the following to define the coordinate system:
   Note: You must specify the coordinate system in the plane on which the boundary exists. First draw the U vector of the coordinate system. Maxwell uses the U vector you draw and the normal vector of the boundary face to calculate the v-axis. Then specify the direction of the V vector.
1. Select New Vector from the U Vector drop-down menu.
   The Create Line message appears, asking you to draw the U vector of the coordinate system in the plane of the selected face, and the Independent Boundary dialog box disappears while you draw the U vector.
2. Select the U vector's origin, which must be on the boundary's surface, in one of the following ways:
• Click the point.
• Type the point's coordinates in the in the X, Y, and Z boxes.
3. Select a point on the u-axis.
   The Independent Boundary dialog box reappears
5. To reverse the direction of the vector, select the Reverse Direction check box.
6. Click OK.

Maxwell computes the H-field on this boundary and maps it to the dependent boundary using the transformation defined by the independent and dependent coordinate systems.