A magneto-resistance effect element (MR element) used for a thin film magnetic head is configured by a buffer layer, an anti-ferromagnetic layer, a pinned layer, a spacer layer, a free layer, and a cap layer, which are laminated in this order, and a sense current flows through the element in a direction orthogonal to the layer surface, via a lower shield layer and a upper shield layer. The pinned layer comprises an outer layer in which a magnetization direction is fixed, a non-magnetic intermediate layer, and an inner layer which is a ferromagnetic layer. The spacer layer comprises a first non-magnetic metal layer, a semiconductor layer, and a second non-magnetic metal layer. The first non-magnetic metal layer and the second non-magnetic metal layer comprise CuPt films having a thickness ranging from a minimum of 0.2 nm to a maximum of 2.0 nm, and the Pt content ranges from a minimum of 5 at % to a maximum of 25 at %. The semiconductor layer comprises a ZnO film, ZnS film, or GaN film having a thickness ranging from a minimum of 1.0 nm to a maximum of 2.5 nm.