  We find that the damping of micromechanical cantilevers is sensitive to the
relaxation dynamics of paramagnetic ions contained within the levers. We
measure cantilevers containing paramagnetic Mn ions as a function of
temperature, magnetic field, and the vibrational mode of the lever and find
that the levers damping is strongly enhanced by the interplay between the
motion of the lever, the ions magnetic anisotropy, and the ratio of the ions
longitudinal relaxation rate to the resonance frequency of the cantilever. This
enhancement can improve the levers ability to probe the relaxation behavior of
paramagnetic or superparamagetic systems; it may also represent a previously
unrecognized source of intrinsic dissipation in micromechanical structures.
