The invention provides a
magneto-resistive effect device of the CPP (current perpendicular to plane) structure, comprising a
magneto-resistive effect unit, and an upper shield layer and a lower shield layer located with that
magneto-resistive effect unit sandwiched between them, with a sense current applied in a stacking direction, wherein the magneto-resistive effect unit comprises a nonmagnetic
metal intermediate layer, and a first ferromagnetic layer and a second ferromagnetic layer stacked and formed with that nonmagnetic
metal intermediate layer sandwiched between them, wherein the first ferromagnetic layer and said second ferromagnetic layer are exchange coupled via the nonmagnetic
metal intermediate layer such that where there is no bias
magnetic field applied as yet, their magnetizations are anti-parallel with each other, and at least one of the upper shield layer and the lower shield layer has an inclined
magnetization structure with its
magnetization inclining with respect to a track width direction, so that by the
magnetization of that inclined magnetization structure, a bias
magnetic field can be applied to the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer. It is thus possible to obtain a magneto-resistive effect device of improved reliability that enables a structure capable of having a narrowed read gap (the gap between the upper shield and the lower shield) to be adopted to meet the recently demanded ultra-high
recording density, allows a stable bias
magnetic field to be applied in simple structure, and obtain a stable magneto-resistive effect change.