METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A MAGNETRORESISTIVE ELEMENT WITH CONDUCTIVE FILMS AND MAGNETIC DOMAIN FILMS OVERLAPPING A CENTRAL ACTIVE AREA

摘要

The present invention is directed to an MR element and a thin film magnetic head that do not cause an increase in the electrical resistance value due to the presence of dead zones. When forming passive areas that include magnetic domain control films and conductive films at the two sides of a central active area through a vacuum film formation method, the magnetic domain control films are formed under film forming conditions that are different from the film forming conditions under which the conductive films are formed to ensure that the degree to which the conductive films overlap the central active area is set larger than the degree to which the magnetic domain control films overlap the central active area.