  Surfaces covered with nanostructures, such as nanowire arrays, have shown to
facilitate a significantly higher absorption of laser energy as compared to
flat surfaces. Due to the efficient coupling of the laser energy, highly
energetic electrons are produced, which in turn can emit intense ultrafast
X-ray pulses. In the present work we use full three dimensional PIC simulations
to analyze the behavior of arrays of carbon nanowires $400 nm$ in diameter,
irradiated by a $\lambda_0 = 400 nm$ laser pulse of $60 fs$ duration at FWHM
and a vector potential of $a_0 = 18$. We analyze the ionization dynamics of the
nanowires. We investigate the difference of the ionization strength and
structure between linearly and circularly polarized laser beam. The nanowires
are found to be fully ionized after about 30 laser cycles. Circularly polarized
light reveals a slightly stronger ionization effect.
