Observation of thermally driven field-like spin torque in magnetic tunnel junctions

We report the thermally driven giant field-like spin-torque in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) on application of heat current from top to bottom. The field-like term is detected by the shift of the magneto-resistance hysteresis loop applying temperature gradient. We observed that the field-like term depends on the magnetic symmetry of the MTJ. In asymmetric structures, with different ferromagnetic materials for free and fixed layers, the field-like term is greatly enhanced. Our results show that a pure spin current density of the order of 10(9) A/m(2) can be produced by creating a 120 mK temperature difference across 0.9 nm thick MgO tunnelling barrier. Our results will be useful for writing MTJ and domain wall-based memories using thermally driven spin torque. Published by AIP Publishing.