Patent ID: 7196879

Claim:
An exchange coupling film comprising an antiferromagnetic layer and a ferromagnetic layer, which are formed in contact with each other so that a magnetization direction of the ferromagnetic layer is pinned in a predetermined direction by an exchange coupling magnetic field produced at an interface between both layers, wherein the antiferromagnetic layer is made of an antiferromagnetic material comprising an element X (at least one element selected from Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh, Ru, and Os) and Mn; in a section of the exchange coupling film in parallel with a thickness direction thereof, crystal grain boundaries formed in the antiferromagnetic layer and a crystal grain boundaries formed in the ferromagnetic layer are discontinuous in at least a portion of the interface; and wherein the antiferromagnetic layer and the ferromagnetic layer are laminated in this order from the bottom, and a seed layer is disposed below the ferromagnetic layer and has a crystal structure mainly composed of a face-centered cubic crystal in which equivalent crystal planes represented by the {111} plane are preferentially oriented in parallel with the interface.