Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026

10:33
Research and Development of High-performance Explosives
Published on: February 20, 2016
Propagation of avalanches in Mn12-acetate: magnetic deflagration
Yoko Suzuki1, M P Sarachik, E M Chudnovsky
1Department of Physics, City College of New York, CUNY, New York, New York 10031, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|October 26, 2005
Abstract:
Local time-resolved measurements of fast reversal of the magnetization of single crystals of Mn12-acetate indicate that the magnetization avalanche spreads as a narrow interface that propagates through the crystal at a constant velocity that is roughly 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the speed of sound. We argue that this phenomenon is closely analogous to the propagation of a flame front (deflagration) through a flammable chemical substance.

