Quantum interference oscillations of the superparamagnetic blocking in an Fe8 molecular nanomagnet

We show that the dynamic magnetic susceptibility and the superparamagnetic blocking temperature of an Fe(8) single molecule magnet oscillate as a function of the magnetic field H(x) applied along its hard magnetic axis. These oscillations are associated with quantum interferences, tuned by H(x), between different spin tunneling paths linking two excited magnetic states. The oscillation period is determined by the quantum mixing between the ground S=10 and excited multiplets. These experiments enable us to quantify such mixing. We find that the weight of excited multiplets in the magnetic ground state of Fe(8) amounts to approximately 11.6%.