  We present tight-binding calculations of the spin torque in non-collinear
magnetic tunnel junctions based on the non-equilibrium Green functions
approach. We have calculated the spin torque via the effective local magnetic
moment approach and the divergence of the spin current. We show that both
methods are equivalent, i.e. the absorption of the spin current at the
interface is equivalent to the exchange interaction between the electron spins
and the local magnetization. The transverse components of the spin torque
parallel and perpendicular to the interface oscillate with different phase and
decay in the ferromagnetic layer (FM) as a function of the distance from the
interface. The period of oscillations is inversely proportional to the
difference between the Fermi-momentum of the majority and minority electrons.
The phase difference between the two transverse components of the spin torque
is due to the precession of the electron spins around the exchange field in the
FM layer. In absence of applied bias and for a relatively thin barrier the
perpendicular component of the spin torque to the interface is non-zero due to
the exchange coupling between the FM layers across the barrier.
