Numerical integration of damped Maxwell equations

We study the numerical time integration of Maxwell's equations from electromagnetism. Following the method of lines approach we start from a general semidiscrete Maxwell system for which a number of time-integration methods are considered. These methods have in common an explicit treatment of the curl terms. Central in our investigation is the question how to efficiently raise the temporal convergence order beyond the standard order of two, in particular in the presence of an explicitly or implicitly treated damping term which models conduction.