Patent ID: 6947263

Claim:
A magnetic sensing element comprising a multilayer film comprising: a first antiferromagnetic layer; a pinned magnetic layer in contact with the first antiferromagnetic layer; a first nonmagnetic layer in contact with the pinned magnetic layer; a free magnetic layer in contact with the first nonmagnetic layer, the free magnetic layer comprising a second free magnetic sublayer in contact with the first nonmagnetic layer, a nonmagnetic intermediate sublayer, and a first free magnetic sublayer; a second nonmagnetic layer in contact with the first free magnetic sublayer; and a second antiferromagnetic layer in contact with the second nonmagnetic layer, wherein a current flows perpendicular to a plane of each layer, a total thickness of the first free magnetic sublayer and the second free magnetic sublayer is 70 to 250 Å, and a difference between a thickness of the first free magnetic sublayer and a thickness of the second free magnetic sublayer is 5 to 70 Å.