Numerical verification of the theory of nonadiabatic tunnel ionization in strong circularly polarized laser fields

We verify the theory of nonadiabatic ionization of degenerate valence orbitals in strong circularly polarized laser fields by numerically solving the two-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation for an effective one-electron potential of neon. The numerically calculated ionization ratios of the and orbitals agree well with the theoretical results (i.e., the counter-rotating electron tunnels more easily). However, for strong laser pulses and low laser frequencies, the adiabatic laser-dressed orbitals play an important role. In a Floquet treatment of a three-level model, we find that in this regime the ionization ratio of initial and orbitals depends strongly on the orbital energy order of valence s and orbitals. We also show that the emission angles of valence and electrons are different and should be observable in attoclock experiments.