Patent ID: 6970332

Claim:
A magnetoresistive head, comprising: a spin-valve film as a magnetic sensor element for detecting magnetic signals while in contact with a magnetic recording medium, said spin-valve film having a structure in which an anti-ferromagnetic layer, a pinned layer in which the direction of magnetization is pinned in a predetermined direction by an exchange-coupling magnetic field at work between itself and said anti-ferromagnetic layer, a free layer in which the direction of magnetization changes in accordance with an external magnetic field, and a non-magnetic layer for magnetically isolating said pinned layer and said free layer are layered, wherein said spin-valve film has a corrosion potential relative to a standard hydrogen electrode of +0.4. [V vs. SHE] or greater when immersed in a NaCl solution of a concentration of 0.1 mol/L, wherein said non-magnetic layer comprises CuAu, and wherein the composition ratio of Cu:Au is (100-a 1 ):a 1 (where a 1 , represents atomic %), respectively, the composition range thereof is such that 25â‰¦a 1 <100, said pinned layer and said free layer comprise one of NiFe and CoNiFe, and wherein the composition ratio of Co:Ni:Fe is b 1 :c 1 :d 1 (where b 1 , c 1 and d 1 represent atomic %), respectively, the composition ranges thereof are such that 0â‰¦b 1 â‰¦75, 15â‰¦c 1 â‰¦95 and 5â‰¦d 1 â‰¦40 (where b 1 +c 1 +d 1 =100 atomic %), and said magnetoresistive head detects magnetic signals while in contact with a tape-formed magnetic recording medium.