Patent ID: 7177121

Claim:
A magnetoresistive sensor comprising: a magnetoresistive stack layer including a first anti-ferromagnetic layer, a first pinned layer, a first non-magnetic layer, and a free layer; a first underlayer of said magnetoresistive stack layer; a magnetic domain control film; and a pair of electrode films for supplying current to said magnetoresistive stack layer; a second underlayer formed below said magnetic domain control film; and an amorphous metal film layer formed below said second underlayer for controlling a crystallization of said second underlayer, wherein a center position of an upper surface and a lower surface of said magnetic domain control film is positioned within a range of an upper surface and a lower surface of said free layer, and wherein said second underlayer is formed of Cr or Cr alloy and comprises a body-centered cubic lattice (BCC) polycrystal thin film, and polycrystal orientation of said second underlayer against a formed plane thereof is isometric random crystal orientation having no particular crystal orientation.