Energy distribution of relativistic electrons in the tunneling ionization of atoms by super-intense laser radiation

Abstract

We studied theoretically the influence of relativistic effects on the energy distribution of electrons in the tunneling ionization of atoms by a field of linearly polarized super-intense laser radiation. It was shown that the energy distribution of ejected electrons is determined by relativistic law though the electron kinetic energy can be less than its rest energy. The relativistic probability of ionization along the field strength decreases exponentially with the electron kinetic energy, but more quickly than in the non-relativistic case.