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Particle detection using magnetic avalanches in single-molecule magnet crystals

Bailey Kohn1,*, Hao Chen1,2,†, Rupak Mahapatra1,‡, Glenn Agnolet1, Ivan Borzenets1, Philip C. Bunting3, Jeffrey R. Long4,5, Minjie Lu1, Tom Melia6 et al.

Michael Nippe7, Lok Raj Pant1, Surjeet Rajendran8, Anna Schmautz7, and Amis Sharma1

  • *Contact author: b.pickard17@tamu.edu
  • †Contact author: chenhao_fd@fudan.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: mahapatra@physics.tamu.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 012014 – Published 17 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/r1x8-qc2f

Abstract

The detection of a single quantum of energy with high efficiency and a low false positive rate is of considerable scientific interest, from serving as single quantum sensors of optical and infrared photons to enabling the direct detection of low-mass dark matter. We confirm our initial experimental demonstration of magnetic avalanches induced by scattering of quanta in single-molecule magnet (SMM) crystals made of Mn12 acetate, establishing the use of SMMs as particle detectors for the first time. Although the current setup has an energy threshold in the MeV regime, our results motivate the exploration of a wide variety of SMMs whose properties could allow for detection of sub-eV energy depositions.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 012014– Published 17 July, 2026
  • Received 3 August 2025
  • Revised 24 November 2025
  • Accepted 22 May 2026
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