Disclosed is a thermally assisted magnetic recording medium comprising a substrate, a plurality of underlayers formed on the substrate, and a magnetic layer which is formed on the underlayers and predominantly comprised of an alloy having a L1.sub.0 structure, characterized in that at least one of the underlayers is predominantly comprised of MgO and comprises at least one oxide selected from SiO.sub.2, TiO.sub.2, Cr.sub.2O.sub.3, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, Ta.sub.2O.sub.5, ZrO.sub.2, Y.sub.2O.sub.3, CeO.sub.2, MnO, TiO and ZnO. The thermally assisted magnetic recording medium has a magnetic layer comprised of fine magnetic crystal grains, exhibiting a sufficiently weak exchange coupling between magnetic grains, and having a minimized coercive force dispersion.

Disclosed is a thermally assisted magnetic recording medium comprising a substrate, a plurality of underlayers formed on the substrate, and a magnetic layer which is formed on the underlayers and predominantly comprised of an alloy having a L1.sub.0 structure, characterized in that at least one of the underlayers is predominantly comprised of MgO and comprises at least one oxide selected from SiO.sub.2, TiO.sub.2, Cr.sub.2O.sub.3, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, Ta.sub.2O.sub.5, ZrO.sub.2, Y.sub.2O.sub.3, CeO.sub.2, MnO, TiO and ZnO. The thermally assisted magnetic recording medium has a magnetic layer comprised of fine magnetic crystal grains, exhibiting a sufficiently weak exchange coupling between magnetic grains, and having a minimized coercive force dispersion.

In the systems and methods for synthesizing a thin film with desired properties (e.g. magnetic, conductivity, photocatalyst, etc.), a metal oxide film may be deposited on a substrate. The metal oxide film may be achieved utilizing any suitable method. A reducing agent may be deposited before, after or both before and after the metal oxide layer. Oxygen may be removed or liberated from the deposited metal oxide film by low temperature local or global annealing. As a result of the annealing to remove oxygen, one or more portions of the metal oxide may be transformed into materials with desired properties. As a nonlimiting example, a metal oxide film may be treated to provide a magnetic multilayer film that is suitable for bit patterned media.

In the systems and methods for synthesizing a thin film with desired properties (e.g. magnetic, conductivity, photocatalyst, etc.), a metal oxide film may be deposited on a substrate. The metal oxide film may be achieved utilizing any suitable method. A reducing agent may be deposited before, after or both before and after the metal oxide layer. Oxygen may be removed or liberated from the deposited metal oxide film by low temperature local or global annealing. As a result of the annealing to remove oxygen, one or more portions of the metal oxide may be transformed into materials with desired properties. As a nonlimiting example, a metal oxide film may be treated to provide a magnetic multilayer film that is suitable for bit patterned media.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a magnetic recording medium capable of reducing the surface roughness of the magnetic recording layer without adversely affecting the magnetic properties of the magnetic recording layer. The magnetic recording medium of the present invention includes a substrate, a seed layer on the substrate, and a magnetic recording layer on the seed layer, wherein the seed layer has a structure of: (a) a spinel structure consisting of Mg, Cr and O; (b) a spinel structure consisting of Zn, Fe and O; or (c) an inverse spinel structure consisting of Mg, Ti and O.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a magnetic recording medium capable of reducing the surface roughness of the magnetic recording layer without adversely affecting the magnetic properties of the magnetic recording layer. The magnetic recording medium of the present invention includes a substrate, a seed layer on the substrate, and a magnetic recording layer on the seed layer, wherein the seed layer has a structure of: (a) a spinel structure consisting of Mg, Cr and O; (b) a spinel structure consisting of Zn, Fe and O; or (c) an inverse spinel structure consisting of Mg, Ti and O.

According to the present invention, there is provided a recording medium comprising a substrate, a platinum layer formed on the substrate and having a (111) plane preferentially oriented, and a fullerene single crystal thin film formed on the platinum layer, and configured to be a recording layer, wherein an average value of average surface roughness Ra's with respect to four or more visual fields measured by using an atomic force microscope in a surface of the fullerene thin film is 0.5 nm or less.

Magnetic recording media including a soft magnetic underlayer (SUL) formed over an oxidized pre-seed layer. In some examples, the pre-seed layer is oxidized to reduce an amount of intermixing between the pre-seed layer and the SUL. The reduction in intermixing via oxidation can lead to improved recording performance of the recording media that are deposited on the SUL. In particular, media overwrite, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), linear recording density, and areal recording density or areal density capacity (ADC) can be improved. In one aspect, a deposition apparatus may be modified to inject oxygen during pre-seed layer deposition to oxidize the pre-seed layer.

Magnetic recording media including an interlayer configured to reduce lattice mismatch with adjacent layers of the media, such as an adjacent seed layer or an adjacent underlayer. In one example, an interlayer alloy is provided that includes tungsten (W) along with Cobalt (Co), Chromium (Cr), and Ruthenium (Ru). The atomic percentages of W and Ru within the interlayer are selected so that the amount lattice mismatch between the interlayer and its adjacent layers is below a preselected amount, such as below 3% as quantified by d-spacing. In some examples, the atomic percentage of Ru is greater than 25% and the atomic percentage of W is 2-10%. Methods of fabricating the magnetic recording media are also provided.

A tape-shaped magnetic recording medium includes a substrate; and a magnetic layer that is provided on the substrate and contains a magnetic powder. An average thickness of the magnetic layer is not more than 90 nm, an average aspect ratio of the magnetic powder is not less than 1.0 and not more than 3.0, the coercive force Hc1 in a vertical direction is not more than 3000 Oe, and the coercive force Hc1 in the vertical direction and a coercive force Hc2 in a longitudinal direction satisfy a relationship of Hc2/Hc1≤0.8.