Patent ID: 7486487

Claim:
A magneto-resistive element employing a Current Perpendicular to Plane (CPP) structure, comprising: a lower electrode, an antiferromagnetic layer, a pinned magnetization layer, a nonmagnetic intermediate layer, a free magnetization layer and an upper electrode that are successively stacked, said pinned magnetization layer comprising a first pinned magnetization layer, a nonmagnetic coupling layer and a second pinned magnetization layer that are successively stacked on the antiferromagnetic layer, said first and second pinned magnetization layers being antiferromagnetically exchange-coupled, one of said first and second pinned magnetization layers being formed by a ferromagnetic layer made of a ferromagnetic material at least including one element or alloy selected from a group consisting of Co, Fe, Ni and alloys thereof, the other of said first and second pinned magnetization layers being formed by a resistance control layer made of a ferromagnetic material at least including one element or alloy selected from a group consisting of Co, Fe, Ni and alloys thereof, and an additive element, said additive element being at least one element or alloy selected from a group consisting of B, C, N, O, F, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Te, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Po, At and alloys thereof, wherein the additive element in the resistance control layer forming the other of said first and second pinned magnetization layers controls a scattering asymmetry thereof so that the first pinned magnetization layer has a scattering asymmetry smaller than that of the second pinned magnetization layer.