  The generation of electron vortex states in ionization by intense and short
laser pulses is analyzed under the scope of the lowest-order Born
approximation. For near infrared laser fields and nonrelativistic intensities
of the order of $10^{16}$~W/cm$^2$, we show that one has to modify the
nonrelativistic treatment of ionization by accounting for recoil and mass
relativistic corrections. By using the corrected quasi-relativistic theory, the
requirements for the observation of electron vortex states with non-negligible
probability and large topological charge are determined.

Atomic Physics;Quantum Physics