Direct observation of magneto-Peltier effect in current-in-plane giant magnetoresistive spin valve

We report on the direct observation of the magneto-Peltier effect in a current-in-plane giant magnetoresistive (CIP-GMR) spin valve. By means of the recently developed thermoelectric imaging technique based on lock-in thermography, we demonstrate that thermoelectric cooling and heating are generated by applying a local magnetic field to the CIP-GMR spin-valve film, confirming the different Peltier coefficients of the spin valve between the parallel and antiparallel magnetization configurations. The cooling and heating positions are found to be tuned simply by changing the magnitude of the local magnetic field. This versatile and reconfigurable thermoelectric conversion functionality may provide a thermal management method for CIP-GMR magnetic sensors. Published under license by AIP Publishing.