Improved Threshold for Particle-Induced Magnetic Avalanche in Single-Molecule Magnets Using Fe$_8$ Molecule

Abstract

Extending the original work on the development of a magnetic avalanche detector using Mn$_{12}$-ac single-molecule magnet (SMM), we report the results on a significantly lower threshold magnetic avalanche detector using Fe$_8$ SMM. Fe$_8$ has an order of magnitude smaller relaxation time that is expected to produce at least 3 orders of magnitude lower avalanche threshold compared to Mn$_{12}$-ac. We confirm this experimentally through the detection of gamma particles with energy at least two orders of magnitude lower than the original Mn$_{12}$-ac detection demonstrated using alpha particles, limited by the experimentally available radiation source. The true threshold of avalanche may be significantly lower and will be explored with lower energy x-rays and potentially infrared photons.