Electron emission produced by strong field laser radiation

The well-established Fowler-Nordheim-Schottky field emission theory is modified for strong electric fields E produced by pulsed laser radiation. The derivation of the electron tunneling probability through the triangular potential barrier is re-examined and simplified for an effective solution. This probability is studied only for strong fields, when the wavelength of the electrons is much larger than the barrier width. It is calculated for ten channels of electron emission; the emission decreases very sharply for channels with high numbers. Published under license by AIP Publishing.