Patent ID: 8072712

Claim:
A magnetic sensing element comprising: an element portion for exhibiting a magnetoresistance effect, said element portion having at least a pinned magnetic layer, a free magnetic layer, and a nonmagnetic material layer layered in a film thickness direction with said nonmagnetic material layer being disposed between said pinned magnetic layer and said free magnetic layer; and a hard bias layer for applying a bias magnetic field to said free magnetic layer, said hard bias layer extending at both sides of said element portion in a track width direction, wherein said hard bias layer includes a first hard bias layer and a second hard bias layer disposed directly and completely on said first hard bias layer, and said first hard bias layer has a higher residual magnetization Mr than said second hard bias layer, while said second hard bias layer has a higher coercive force Hc than said first hard bias layer, wherein one end of said first hard bias layer on the side of said element portion is located closer to both sides of said free magnetic layer in the track width direction than said second hard bias layer, wherein said first hard bias layer has an average film thickness t 1 accounting for 35% to 75% of a total film thickness that is a sum of said average film thickness t 1 of said first hard bias layer and an average film thickness t 2 of said second hard bias layer, wherein a side portion is disposed on one side of the element portion, the side portion having a multilayered structure comprising: an insulating layer, an underlayer, an orientation control layer, said first hard bias layer, and said second hard bias layer from bottom to top; and wherein a film thickness t 3 of said first hard bias layer in the track width direction at a level corresponding to the center of the film thickness of the free magnetic layer is in the range of 30 â„« to 100 â„«.