  Measurements of proton NMR and the spin lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 in the
octanuclear iron (III) cluster [Fe8(N3C6H15)6O2(OH)12][Br8 9H2O], in short Fe8,
have been performed at 1.5 K in a powder sample aligned along the main
anisotropy z axis, as a function of a transverse magnetic field (i.e.,
perpendicular to the main easy axis z). A big enhancement of 1/T1 is observed
over a wide range of fields (2.5-5 T), which can be attributed to the tunneling
dynamics; in fact, when the tunneling splitting of the pairwise degenerate
m=+-10 states of the Fe8 molecule becomes equal to the proton Larmor frequency
a very effective spin lattice relaxation channel for the nuclei is opened. The
experimental results are explained satisfactorily by considering the
distribution of tunneling splitting resulting from the distribution of the
angles in the hard xy plane for the aligned powder, and the results of the
direct diagonalization of the model Hamiltonian.
