Patent ID: 6842315

Claim:
The magneto-resistive head comprising: a first and second magnetic shield films; a spin bulb film formed between the first and the second shield films via an insulation film; a soft-magnetic film arranged to be in contact with both end portions of a free layer of the spin bulb film; a permanent magnet film arranged so as to be in contact with the lower portion of the soft-magnetic film and not in contact with the free layer of the spin bulb film; and an electrode film for applying a signal detection current to the spin bulb film; wherein a distance between the end portion of the free layer of the spin bulb film and the end portion of the permanent magnet is not greater than 1.5 multiplied by a smaller distance among the distance between the permanent magnet film end portion and the first magnetic shield film and the distance between the permanent magnet film end portion and the second magnetic shield film.