The modelling of field ionization in particle-in-cell(PIC) codes is an important prerequisite to analyzing high-power laser-matter interaction. Many field ionization models exist that have predictive capability at non-relativistic laser intensities and for laser pulse durations much longer than atomic time scales. Additionally many PIC codes exist which are operating on large CPU machines and already take field ionization into account. This thesis will take a step to model field ionization on new, highly parallel GPU architectures. Recently these architectures are increasingly applied to large scale scientific simulations for their raw computing power. The modelling of field ionization proves to be challenging on GPGPUs and the extended aim of this thesis is to employ techniques to verify that implementation. Difficulties in abiding by the constrains of the models themselves, the PIC algorithm as well as the plasma dynamics will be pointed out. Nevertheless PIConGPU, the fastest fully relativistic particle-in- cell code in existence, now provides an ionization framework by which new and exciting physical problems can be tackled.

Master's thesis