A TMR device comprising an antiferromagnetic layer made of an
antiferromagnetic material containing Mn, a magnetization fixed layer
made of a ferromagnetic material, a tunnel barrier layer made of a
dielectric material, and a magnetization free layer made of a
ferromagnetic material. An insulator material layer is inserted in the
magnetization fixed layer at a distance from the antiferromagnetic
material layer and the tunnel barrier layer. One material can be
expressed by NX, where X is a first element selected from the group
consisting of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon; and N is a second element,
provided that the bonding energy between the first and the second
elements is higher than the bonding energy between manganese and the
first element. A second material can be expressed by MX, where M is an
element selected from the group consisting of titanium, tantalum,
vanadium, aluminum, europium, and scandium; and X is an element selected
from the group consisting of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon. The tunnel
magnetoresistance effect device suppresses the diffusion of Mn from the
Mn based alloy constituting the antiferromagnetic material layer even
after heat treatment is performed.