Distribution of ionization and tunneling times in a model of strong field ionization

Abstract

We consider a simple model for strong field ionization and use the Salecker-Wigner-Peres clock to obtain a distribution of (real) times associated with this phenomenon. By coupling the Salecker-Wigner-Peres clock to the particle in different regions, we are able to distinguish between the ionization (exit) time, the tunneling time and the time the particle spends in the well before entering the barrier (the well time). We show that the distribution of ionization/exit times, which are the times usually measured in attoclock experiments, may differ significantly from the distribution of tunneling times, suggesting that the ionization times cannot be generally interpreted as tunneling times.