| 摘要 |
A magnetoresistive thin-film magnetic head is disclosed, which includes a magnetoresistive element having magnetoresistance effect, the magnetoresistive element being exposed to a recording medium facing surface, and upper and lower shield magnetic bodies formed of soft magnetic layers, the upper and lower shield magnetic bodies magnetically shielding the magnetoresistive element with a non-magnetic layer held between them in a direction of film thickness, one or both of the upper and lower shield magnetic bodies having at least width of a portion thereof exposed to the recording medium facing surface, not smaller than an effective track width and not greater than four times a track pitch. In this case, in one or both of the upper and lower shield magnetic bodies, length in the direction of depth determined by the width may be greater than formation length of the magnetoresistive element. In one or both of the upper and lower shield magnetic bodies, the width is not smaller than the effective track width and not greater than the track pitch, and the length in the direction of depth determined by the width is not smaller than 9% of maximum recording wavelength. <IMAGE> |
