MAGNETORESISTANCE EFFECT ELEMENT, THIN-FILM MAGNETIC HEAD, HEAD-GIMBAL ASSEMBLY, HEAD-ARM ASSEMBLY, MAGNETIC DISK DEVICE, MAGNETIC SENSOR, AND MAGNETIC MEMORY

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a magnetoresistance effect element where the width of a conductor is easy to control, and where a free layer and a fixed layer are conducted via the conducting part having a minute width.;SOLUTION: The MR element (magnetoresistance effect element) 5 is provided with a laminate 30. The laminate 30 has a spacer layer 24, having a first surface and a second surface facing sides opposite to each other, the free layer 25 which is arranged so as to be adjacent to the first surface of the spacer layer 24 and where the direction of magnetization varies, according to a signal magnetic field, and the fixed layer 23 which is arranged so as to be adjacent to the second surface of the spacer layer 24 and where the direction of magnetization is fixed. The spacer layer 24 is made of a material at least a part of which is, except for a conductor that prevents current from passing therethrough or restricts passing therethrough of the current, as compared with a layer comprising the conductor as a whole. The MR element 5 is, moreover, provided with a conductive film 40 which is arranged on the peripheral surface of the laminate 30, to make the free layer 25 and the fixed layer 23 conductive.;COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT