Important Heat Contribution by Tunneling Spin Scattering in Magnetic Tunnel Junction

• Published in: IEEE transactions on magnetics Vol. 58; no. 4; pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Liu, Shuhan, Hu, Shaojie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-04-2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Asymmetry; Finite element method; Heat; Heat contribution; Heat generation; Heating systems; Magnetic tunneling; Magnetism; Magnons; Resistance heating; Scattering; spin scattering; Temperature distribution; Three-dimensional displays; Tunnel junctions; Tunneling; tunneling electron
• ISSN: 0018-9464; 1941-0069
• DOI: 10.1109/TMAG.2021.3120884

We investigated the heat contribution by tunneling spin scattering of magnetic tunnel junction in parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP) states using finite element simulation. It showed a maximum temperature increase of 23.2% from P to AP, which is even more significant than the heating asymmetry caused by different current directions. A remarkable enhancement of the temperature gradient was confirmed for contributing to the extra thermal spin-transfer torque to the free layer under a specific current direction. Both the contributions of enhanced temperature and temperature gradient should be the possible reasons for the asymmetry of the critical switching current density from P to AP and AP to P. We also extended the research to a double-barrier structure, clarifying its high performance from the aspect of heat generation. Our demonstration may offer efficient tunneling magnon excitation by using the tunneling spin scattering heat.