We investigate the liberation of an atomic electron by a linearly polarized single-cycle near-infrared laser pulse having a peak intensity that ensures tunneling. Based on phase space analysis and energy distribution in the instantaneous potential, we reveal the importance of quantum interference between tunneling and over-the-barrier pathways of escape. Tunneling is blurred both in space and time, and the contribution of tunneling at the mean energy is almost negligible. We suggest and justify improved initial conditions for a classical particle approximation of strong-field ionization, based on the quantum momentum function, and we show how to reconstruct them from the detected momentum of an escaped electron.

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• Multiphoton or tunneling ionization & excitation
• Ultrafast phenomena
• Atoms
• Dipole approximation
• Phase space methods
• Schroedinger equation