Patent attributes
A magnetic sensor includes a plurality of giant magnetoresistive elements, each of which includes a free layer, a conductive layer, and a pin layer sequentially laminated on a substrate, wherein the pin layer formed by sequentially laminating a first magnetic layer, an Ru layer, a second magnetic layer, and an antiferromagnetic layer is subjected to magnetization heat treatment so as to fix the magnetization direction thereof. The first and second magnetic layers differ from each other in thickness and magnetic moment thereof, and the thickness of the Ru layer ranges from 4 Å to 10 Å. The magnetization heat treatment is performed so as to maintain an anti-parallel state between the first and second magnetic layers. In order to detect magnetic fields in three-axial directions, one giant magnetoresistive element is formed using a planar surface, and the other giant magnetoresistive elements are formed using respective slopes on the substrate.
