Spin torque, tunnel-current spin polarization and magnetoresistance in MgO magnetic tunnel junctions

We examine the spin torque (ST) response of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with ultra-thin MgO tunnel barrier layers to investigate the relationship between the spin-transfer torque and the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) under finite bias. We find that the spin torque per unit current exerted on the free layer decreases by less than 10% over a bias range where the TMR decreases by over 40%. We examine the implications of this result for various spin-polarized tunneling models and find that it is consistent with magnetic-state-dependent effective tunnel decay lengths.