Patent ID: 7508203

Claim:
A magnetic field detector comprising a first magnetoresistive element and a second magnetoresistive element, the first magnetoresistive element and the second magnetoresistive element each having a stack structure including: an antiferromagnetic layer; a first layer of a ferromagnetic material with the direction of magnetization fixed by the antiferromagnetic layer; a nonmagnetic layer; and a second layer of a ferromagnetic material with the direction of magnetization adapted to be changed by an external magnetic field, wherein the second magnetoresistive element is such that the direction of magnetization of the first layer and the direction of magnetization of the second layer in a nonmagnetic field are different from each other, and wherein the direction of magnetization of the second layer in the nonmagnetic field of the first magnetoresistive element and the direction of magnetization of the second layer in the nonmagnetic field of the second magnetoresistive element are nonparallel or nonantiparallel to each other.