Coulomb distorted plane wave-Volkov ansatz for strong-field ionization

Abstract

In the strong-field ionization of atomic and molecular systems, the photoelectron is exposed to the long-range Coulomb force which is neglected in the standard theories based on the strong-field approximation (SFA). We introduce an ansatz which takes into account the Coulomb effects and at the same time is as simple as the standard SFA. Our Coulomb distorted plane wave-Volkov approximation provides analytical expressions for the relevant matrix elements. We also present a generalization of this approximation taking into account first-order term of an expansion in the atomic potential. Similarly as in the standard improved SFA, this generalized approximation describes well the rescattering plateau and the cutoff observed in the photoelectron spectra. Our new approximation is illustrated with numerical examples of strong-field ionization of the hydrogen atom exposed to linearly and circularly polarized laser pulses. The spectra obtained are slightly flatten in comparison with the SFA spectra and this effect is stronger for shorter laser wavelengths.