Giant intrinsic thermomagnetic effects in thin MgO magnetic tunnel junctions

Abstract

An intrinsic spin-dependent Seebeck effect in the linear tunneling transport regime of magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) was discovered recently. This effect leads to a nonlinear correction of Ohm's law in the dc response. We analyze this intrinsic magneto-thermoelectrical effect for MTJs with different MgO barrier (tb=0.7−1.35 nm) thicknesses. We report strong intrinsic effects in MTJs with thin MgO barriers (1189%), upon reversal of the magnetization of the two CoFeB layers. Such large effects are promising for useful spin caloritronic devices, integrating charge, heat, and spin tunnel transport.