A thin film magnetic head including an MR laminated body composed of a first and second MR magnetic layers, first and second shield layers, and a bias magnetic field application layer provided on an opposite side of an air bearing surface (ABS) of the MR laminated body in order to apply a bias magnetic field orthogonal relative to the ABS. The first shield layer includes a first exchange coupling magnetic field application layer and a first antiferromagnetic layer; and the second shield layer includes a second exchange coupling magnetic field application layer and a second antiferromagnetic layer.