Time delay between singly and doubly ionizing wavepackets in laser-driven helium

We present calculations of the time delay between single and double ionization of helium, obtained from full-dimensionality numerical integrations of the helium–laser Schrödinger equation. The notion of a quantum mechanical time delay is defined in terms of the interval between correlated bursts of single and double ionization. Calculations are performed at 390 and 780 nm in laser intensities that range from 2 × 10 14 to 14 × 10 14 W cm −2 . We find results consistent with the rescattering model of double ionization but supporting its classical interpretation only at 780 nm.