Patent ID: 7859258

Claim:
A magnetic sensor comprising: a magnetoresistive effect element including an element unit whose element length L 1 is formed longer than an element width W 1 , the element unit including a fixed magnetic layer whose magnetism direction is fixed and a free magnetic layer whose magnetism direction fluctuates upon reception of an external magnetic field, the free magnetic layer being laminated on the fixed magnetic layer via a non-magnetic layer, and the fixed magnetism direction of the fixed magnetic layer facing an element width direction which is a sensitivity axis direction; and a first soft magnetic body arranged in a non-contact manner with the magnetoresistive effect element, the first soft magnetic body being formed to have a width size in a same direction as the element width W 1 set as W 2 and a length size in a same direction as the element length L 1 set as L 2 , the length size L 2 of the first soft magnetic body being longer than the element length L 1 , and the first soft magnetic body including an extension part extending from both sides of the element length direction of the element unit in the element length direction.