To improve a magnetic head and its manufacturing method, wherein a bias magnetic field caused by a hard film can be appropriately applied to a read element by controlling a property of the hard film near the read element, in the magnetic head provided with a read head with CPP structure.

The magnetic head is provided with a read head in which a side plane of the read head 10 and a surface of a lower shield layer 18 are covered by an insulation film 12 and the hard film 14 is formed on the insulation film through a base layer, wherein the base layer comprises a first base layer 16a put on a part 12a of the insulation film 12 covering a side plane of the read element 10, and a second base layer 16b put on a part 12b of the insulation film 12 covering the surface of the lower shield layer 18 extended from the side plane of the read element 10 to both sides.