Alignment dependent ionization of hydrogen molecules in intense laser field - the validity of molecular tunneling theory

We have investigated the alignment dependent ionization of H-2 molecules solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. By comparing ionization probabilities in different wavelengths and analyzing the ground state wave function and the model potential, we identified that the discrepancies between the experiments and the predictions of the molecular tunneling model are originated from the inaccurate coefficients used in the model and that the assumption of isotropy of the effective potential in the tunneling region is invalid.