Patent ID: 8437106

Claim:
A thin film magnetic head, comprising: a magneto resistance effect (MR) film that includes a pinned layer of which a magnetization direction is pinned with respect to an external magnetic field, a free layer of which a magnetization direction varies corresponding to the external magnetic field, and a spacer that is disposed between the pinned layer and the free layer; a pair of shields that are disposed on both sides in a manner of sandwiching the MR film in a direction orthogonal to a film surface of the MR film; and an anisotropy providing layer that provides anisotropy to a first shield, which is disposed on a free layer side of the pair of the shields, so that the first shield is magnetized in a desired direction, and that is disposed on an opposite side from the MR film with respect to the first shield, wherein the MR film includes a magnetic coupling layer that is disposed between the first shield and the free layer and that magnetically couples the first shield with the free layer.