Patent ID: 7274542

Claim:
A magnetic sensor comprising: a pair of lower and upper shield layers, which also act as a pair of electrodes; a magnetoresistive film disposed between the pair of shield layers which is including a free layer, an intermediate layer and a pinned layer; a pair of longitudinal bias layers disposed at both ends of the magnetoresistive film in a track width direction; a pair of insulation layers disposed between the pair of longitudinal bias layers and the both ends of the magnetoresistive film in a track width direction; and a spacer including at least a nonmagnetic metal layer is disposed between the upper shield layer and the pair of longitudinal bias layers, and between the upper shield layer and the magnetoresistive film, wherein a shortest distance between the longitudinal bias layers and the free layer of the magnetoresistive film is smaller than a shortest distance between the longitudinal bias layers and the upper shield layer.