Resonant magnetic tunnelling in Mn₁₂2-Cl benzoate

We present a detailed experimental study of magnetic relaxation on a single crystal of Mn12 2Cl-benzoate and compare with results obtained on a single crystal of Mn12 acetate. Relaxation times obtained from a.c. susceptibility experiments for both samples show sharp minima at the same resonant fields. Although magnetic relaxation of Mn12 2-Cl benzoate is faster at any field and temperature, activation energies in zero field are approximately equal. This is an indication that a small increase of the transverse fields magnitude (arising from dipole-dipole interactions) does not modify appreciably tunnelling rates between spin states which are degenerate at zero field. This result agrees with the predictions of a new theoretical model recently developed by some of the authors.