Thermal barrier layers and seed layers for control of thermal and structural properties of heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) media are provided. One such HAMR medium includes a substrate, a heat sink layer on the substrate, a thermal barrier layer of SrTiO.sub.3 on the heat sink layer, an underlayer of MgO on the thermal barrier layer, and a magnetic recording layer on the underlayer. Another such HAMR medium includes a substrate, a heat sink layer on the substrate, a thermal barrier layer of an ABO3-type oxide on the heat sink layer, and a magnetic recording layer on the thermal barrier layer.

An aluminum alloy substrate for a magnetic recording medium, the substrate including: Si in a range of 9.5 to 13.0% by mass or less and Cu in a range of 0.5 to 3.0% by mass or less, wherein a content of Fe is less than 0.01% by mass, the balance is Al, the substrate has a diameter in a range of 53 to 97 mm and a thickness in a range of 0.4 to 0.9 mm or less, and the substrate satisfies at least one of the following conditions (i) and (ii): (i) Sr is contained in the substrate in a range of 0.005% by mass or more and 0.1% by mass or less; and (ii) at least a part of the Si is present as Si particles, and an average particle diameter of particles having a longest diameter of 0.5 m or more among the Si particles is 2 m or less.

Provided is a sputtering target or a film which is characterized by containing 0.1 to 10 mol % of an oxide of one or more types selected from FeO, Fe.sub.3O.sub.4, K.sub.2O, Na.sub.2O, PbO, and ZnO, 5 to 70 mol % of Pt, and the remainder being Fe. The present invention addresses the issue of providing a sputtering target capable of considerably reducing the particles caused by nonmagnetic materials and significantly improving the yield during deposition. It is thereby possible to deposit a quality magnetic recording layer and improve yield of a magnetic recording medium.

Provided are a magnetic tape including: a non-magnetic support; and a magnetic layer including ferromagnetic powder and a binding agent on the non-magnetic support, in which the magnetic layer has a timing-based servo pattern, a center line average surface roughness Ra measured regarding a surface of the magnetic layer is equal to or smaller than 1.8 nm, the ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder, an intensity ratio of a peak intensity of a diffraction peak of a (110) plane with respect to a peak intensity of a diffraction peak of a (114) plane of a hexagonal ferrite crystal structure obtained by an X-ray diffraction analysis of the magnetic layer by using an In-Plane method is 0.5 to 4.0, and a vertical direction squareness ratio of the magnetic tape is 0.65 to 1.00, and a magnetic tape device including this magnetic tape.

The magnetic tape includes: a non-magnetic support; a non-magnetic layer including non-magnetic powder and a binding agent on the non-magnetic support; and a magnetic layer including ferromagnetic powder and a binding agent on the non-magnetic layer, in which a total thickness of the non-magnetic layer and the magnetic layer is equal to or smaller than 0.60 ?m, the magnetic layer has a servo pattern, the ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic hexagonal ferrite powder, an intensity ratio of a peak intensity of a diffraction peak of a (110) plane with respect to a peak intensity of a diffraction peak of a (114) plane of a hexagonal ferrite crystal structure obtained by an X-ray diffraction analysis of the magnetic layer by using an In-Plane method is 0.5 to 4.0, and a vertical direction squareness ratio of the magnetic tape is 0.65 to 1.00, and a magnetic tape device including this magnetic tape.

A film-forming apparatus and a method for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium are provided. The film-forming apparatus includes a rotating body which moves a base material with a strip shape which has flexibility, a plurality of cathodes which are provided to oppose a rotating surface of the rotating body; and a plurality of accommodating sections which accommodate each of the plurality of cathodes. The method includes sequentially film-forming a plurality of thin films on a base material using a plurality of cathodes which are provided on a moving path of the base material while moving the base material with a strip shape which has flexibility. Each of the plurality of cathodes is accommodated in a plurality of accommodating sections.

A film-forming apparatus and a method for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium are provided. The film-forming apparatus includes a rotating body which moves a base material with a strip shape which has flexibility, a plurality of cathodes which are provided to oppose a rotating surface of the rotating body; and a plurality of accommodating sections which accommodate each of the plurality of cathodes. The method includes sequentially film-forming a plurality of thin films on a base material using a plurality of cathodes which are provided on a moving path of the base material while moving the base material with a strip shape which has flexibility. Each of the plurality of cathodes is accommodated in a plurality of accommodating sections.

A method of making magnetic graphene comprising transferring or growing a graphene film on a substrate, functionalizing the graphene film, hydrogenating the graphene film and forming fully hydrogenated graphene, manipulating the extent of the hydrogen content, and forming areas of magnetic graphene and non-magnetic graphene. A ferromagnetic graphene film comprising film that has a thickness of less than two atom layers thick.

Provided is a magnetic tape device in which a magnetic tape transportation speed is equal to or lower than 18 m/sec, Ra measured regarding a surface of a magnetic layer of a magnetic tape is equal to or smaller than 2.0 nm, a C-H derived C concentration calculated from a C-H peak area ratio of C1s spectra obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis performed on the surface of the magnetic layer at a photoelectron take-off angle of 10 degrees is 45 to 65 atom %, and SFD (=SFD.sub.25 C.SFD.sub.190 C.) in a longitudinal direction of the magnetic tape is equal to or smaller than 0.50, with the SFD.sub.25 C. being SFD measured in a longitudinal direction of the magnetic tape at a temperature of 25 C., and the SFD.sub.190 C. being SFD measured at a temperature of 190 C.

A data storage medium may have increased data capacity by being configured with first and second patterned pedestals that are each separated from a substrate by a seed layer. A first polymer brush layer can be positioned between the first and second patterned pedestals atop the seed layer and a second polymer brush layer may be positioned atop each patterned pedestal. The first and second polymer brush layers may be chemically different and a block copolymer can be deposited to self-assemble into separate magnetic domains aligned with either the first or second polymer brush layers.