Patent ID: 7855859

Claim:
A magnetoresistive element comprising a first ferromagnetic layer, a second ferromagnetic layer, and a spacer layer made of a nonmagnetic material and disposed between the first and second ferromagnetic layers, the first and second ferromagnetic layers being antiferromagnetically coupled to each other through the spacer layer, and having magnetizations that are in opposite directions when no external magnetic field is applied thereto and that change directions in response to an external magnetic field, wherein: the spacer layer and the second ferromagnetic layer are stacked in this order on the first ferromagnetic layer; the first ferromagnetic layer includes: a plurality of ferromagnetic material layers that are stacked and are each made of a ferromagnetic material; and an insertion layer made of a nonmagnetic material and inserted between respective two of the ferromagnetic material layers that are adjacent to each other along a direction in which the layers are stacked; the plurality of ferromagnetic material layers and the spacer layer each include a component whose crystal structure is a face-centered cubic structure; the spacer layer and the insertion layer are each composed of an element having an atomic radius greater than that of at least one element constituting the ferromagnetic material layers.