Propagation of magnetic avalanches in Mn12Ac at high field sweep rates

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Jan 16;102(2):027203. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.027203. Epub 2009 Jan 15.

Abstract

Time-resolved measurements of the magnetization reversal in single crystals of Mn12Ac in pulsed magnetic fields, at magnetic field sweep rates from 1.5 kT/s up to 7 kT/s, suggest a new process that cannot be scaled onto a deflagrationlike propagation driven by heat diffusion. The sweep rate dependence of the propagation velocity, increasing from a few 100 m/s up to the speed of sound in Mn12Ac, indicates the existence of two new regimes at the highest sweep rates, with a transition around 4 kT/s that can be understood as a magnetic deflagration-to-detonation transition.