Open AccessExploring tunneling time by instantaneous ionization rate in strong-field ionization
Author(s) -
Minghu Yuan,
Peipei Xin,
Tianshu Chu,
Hongping Liu
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.25.023493
Subject(s) - ionization , atomic physics , electric field , quantum tunnelling , tunnel ionization , physics , electron , pulse (music) , optics , condensed matter physics , ion , quantum mechanics , detector
A quantum approach is presented to investigate tunneling time by supervising the instantaneous ionization rate. We find that the ionization rate peak appearance lags behind the maximum of electric field intensity for a linearly polarized pulse. This time delay interval can be taken to characterize the tunneling time. In addition, if an atom with anisotropic electronic distribution is exposed to a circular polarized pulse, the tunneling time can also be measured and defined as the time difference between the instant of the largest ionization rate and the moment when the electric field points in the maximum of the bound electron density.