Phonon-Induced Quantum Magnetic Deflagration in Mn12

A comprehensive set of experiments on the effect of high-frequency surface acoustic waves, SAWs, in the spin relaxation in Mn12-acetate is presented. We have studied the quantum magnetic deflagration induced by SAWs under various experimental conditions extending the data shown in a very recent paper [A. Hernandez-Minguez et. al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 217205 (2005)]. We have focused our study on the dependence of both the ignition time and the propagation speed of the magnetic avalanches on the frequency, amplitude, and duration of the SAW pulses in experiments performed under different temperatures and external magnetic fields.