Effect of spin-orbit interaction on tunnel ionization of deep centers in electric field

Effect of spin-orbit interaction on tunnel ionization of deep center in electric fields is studied. It is shown that carriers tunnelling via a triangle barrier formed by the defect and electric field applied come out with a finite momentum in a plane perpendicular to the electric field direction. The momentum direction depends on spin orientation. The probability of ionization also changes and depends on spin. We have studied this effect for the case of deep centers in the semiconductors with zinc-blende crystal structure where the spin-orbit interaction is taken into account by introducing the Dresselhaus k3 terms in the effective electron Hamiltonian