A spin‐calorics device based on La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃/SrRuO₃ superlattices

Abstract High quality La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃/SrRuO₃ superlattices with ultrathin individual layers were grown by pulsed laser deposition and were studied by magnetometry and magnetoresistance measurements. Depending on layer thickness and structural quality, exchange biasing could be observed both in magnetization and magnetotransport. In this regime the superlattice magnetization forms an exchange spring that leads to a reversible field dependence of the magnetoresistance and the magnetic work. It is shown that the magnetic work and the magnetocaloric effect can be tuned by the SrRuO₃ layer thickness. This opens up the possibility of fabricating spin‐caloric devices from wedge‐shaped superlattices with self‐sustaining Seebeck effect. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)