MAGNETORESISTIVE EFFECT ELEMENT

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve miniaturization of size by thinning a total film thickness.SOLUTION: A magnetoresistive effect element 30 includes a multilayer film in which a transition metal nitride film 11, an anti-ferromagnetic film 12, a first ferromagnetic film 13, an anti-parallel coupling film 16, a second ferromagnetic film 17, a nonmagnetic film 14, and a perpendicular magnetic anisotropic film 15 are laminated in this order. The first ferromagnetic film 13 has a negative perpendicular magnetic anisotropy constant. The first ferromagnetic film 13 is forcibly magnetized in a direction perpendicular to the film surface due to an exchange coupling magnetic field generated by the anti-ferromagnetic film 12. The first ferromagnetic film 13 and the second ferromagnetic film 17 are magnetized in respective directions anti-parallel with each other due to superexchange interaction induced by the anti-parallel coupling film 16.