Quantum tunneling in half-integer spin systems

Motivated by the experimental observation of resonant tunneling in systems of half-integer spin, such as V-15 and Mn-4, we study the mechanism of the adiabatic change of the magnetization in systems with time-reversal symmetr y. Although tunneling between the degenerate ground states is suppressed in a simple Kramers doublet, some types of perturbational interactions cause an avoided level crossing structure in the energy level structures when the system possesses additional degeneracy of the ground state. We show that a nonadiabatic transition governed by the Landau-Zener-Stuckelberg mechanism occurs in many cases, and also find more general cases of adiabatic change of the magnetization in which LZS mechanism cannot be applied directly.