Embodiments of the invention improve the power consumption and response speed of a heater for the gap flying height (hg) adjustment, to minimize an influence that the heater has on a life of a read element, and to provide a heater having resistance lines reduced in breaking and ensuring higher reliability. In one embodiment, a read/write element is formed near an air bearing surface (ABS) on a slider, and the circumference of the read/write element is filled with alumina. The read/write element includes an upper magnetic pole piece, a lower magnetic pole piece, a coil, and a resist filling around the coil, and a read element (MR) for performing reading, and an upper shield and lower shield for protecting the read element from an external magnetic field. A heater for adjusting the flying height is provided between the slider and the read/write element but near the read/write element. A temperature gradient relaxing material having a thermal conductivity higher than that of the heater and that of a material (alumina) filling around the heater is formed near the heater.