  We study the concept of spin heat accumulation in excited spin valves, more
precisely the effective electron temperature that may become spin dependent,
both in linear response and far from equilibrium. A temperature or voltage
gradient create non-equilibrium energy distributions of the two spin ensembles
in the normal metal spacer, which approach Fermi-Dirac functions through energy
relaxation mediated by electron-electron and electron-phonon coupling. Both
mechanisms also exchange energy between the spin subsystems. This inter-spin
energy exchange may strongly affect thermoelectric properties spin valves,
leading, e.g., to violations of the Wiedemann-Franz law.

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics