Relativistic mask method for electron momentum distributions after ionization of hydrogen-like ions in strong laser fields

Wavefunction-splitting or mask method, widely used in the non-relativistic calculations of the photoelectron angular distributions, is extended to the relativistic domain within the dipole approximation. Since the closed-form expressions for the relativistic Volkov states are not available within the dipole approximation, we build such states numerically solving a single second-order differential equation. We calculate the photoelectron energy spectra and angular distributions for highly charged ions under different ionization regimes with both the direct and the relativistic mask methods. We show that the relativistic mask method works very well and reproduces the electron energy and angular distributions calculated by the direct method in the energy range where both methods can be used. On the other hand, the relativistic mask method can be applied for longer laser pulses and/or higher photoelectron energies where the direct method may have difficulties. Graphical abstract