Characterization of continuous wave laser-induced thermal gradients in magnetic tunnel junctions integrated into microresonators via COMSOL simulations

Spin caloritronics still is a vivid field and aims to investigate static and dynamic effects on magnetic structures due to spin-currents generated by thermal gradients [1]. In magnetic tunnel junctions, magnetization dynamics can be induced by bias voltage as well as thermal gradients [2]. In most research, COMSOL simulations are used to estimate the overall temperature of the magnetic tunnel junction as well as the thermal gradient over the insulating barrier [3-5]. Here, we perform COMSOL simulations using the 2D heat transfer module for specific Co2FeAl/MgO(2nm)/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions which are integrated into so-called microresonators [6]. Microresonators have been recently used as alternative approach to investigate the magnetization dynamics of the free-layer within magnetic tunnel junctions, induced by a thermal gradient by means of its ferromagnetic resonance response [6]. Utilizing microresonators for ferromagnetic resonance detection allow for the detection of signals from micron/nano-sized object under laser heating in terms of linewidth and resonance field and thus provide the possibility to detect influences of a thermal gradient on the magnetization dynamics far below the threshold of magnetic switching. The heat diffusion over all layers are modeled by starting with a 2D (vertical) rectangular shape in which we consider the MTJ stack with the MgO-substrate and backside metallization as part of the microresonators shown in Fig 1. Moreover, we consider an air ‘layer’ and the metal-contacts defining the microresonator on top of the MgO-substrate. Upon rotation of this two-dimensional shape around the central vertical z-axis of the MTJ, we obtain a 3D cylinder in which the heat profile is simulated (see Fig 2). The simulation parameters for the materials were chosen similar to those in [3,4]. In the simulation, the fundamental properties of layers i.e. thermal conductivity, heat capacity and material density are used to obtain a temperature profile of the magnetic structure. According to the simulation results, the thermal conductivity of the insulating barrier (MgO) and top metal thicknesses influence the thermal gradient, while uniform heating is strongly affected by the surrounding material of the microresonator which is mainly made from copper (high thermal conductivity). The simulation results provide insight into the heat profile of the whole structure and in particular demonstrate that not only changing the magnetic object itself but also modifying the structure of the surrounding materials yields a handle to tune and optimize the thermal gradient.
Figure 1. 2D sketch of MTJ structure integrated into a microresonator for COMSOL modelling. Heat source, i.e. cw- laser is applied to magnetic layers through the top-metal. The temperature of the bottom of the whole structure is set to 293.15 K.
Figure 2. (a) Temperature profile across the MTJ integrated in a microresonator with the applied power of 145 mW inset (b) 3D cylindrical image of MTJ structure.

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