A magnetic recording medium includes a substrate, an underlayer provided above the substrate, and a magnetic layer provided on and in contact with the underlayer. The underlayer includes a compound represented by a general formula MgO.sub.(1-x), where x falls within a range of 0.07 to 0.25. The magnetic layer includes an alloy having a L1.sub.0 structure, and the alloy having the L1.sub.0 structure includes one or more elements selected from a group consisting of Al, Si, Ga, and Ge.

An aluminum alloy substrate for a magnetic disk including an aluminum alloy containing 0.1 to 3.0 mass % of Fe, 0.005 to 1.000 mass % of Cu, and 0.005 to 1.000 mass % of Zn, with a balance of Al and inevitable impurities, wherein in an outer peripheral surface thereof, the number of holes having maximum diameters of 10 μm or more is 200/mm.sup.2 or less, an aluminum alloy base disk for a magnetic disk and a magnetic disk, using the aluminum alloy substrate, and methods for manufacturing these.

A disk for use in hard disk drives (HDD) or other magnetic recording apparatus is provided that includes a pair of plating layers, such as polished nickel-phosphorous (NiP) layers, on opposing sides of substrate, such as an aluminum-magnesium (Al—Mg) alloy substrate. The thicknesses of the two polished plating layers are set so that a ratio (by percentage) of the combined thickness of the polished layers is about 3% of the total thickness of the disk. The ratio of about 3% is employed based on a finding that this thickness ratio provides a beneficial tradeoff between disk rigidity and disk weight, particularly for use with polished NiP coatings on Al—Mg alloy substrates. Multi-platter stacks of the disks are described. Methods are also described for fabricating such disks.

An aluminum alloy disc blank for a magnetic disc made of an aluminum alloy containing Fe: 0.005 to 1.800 mass % with the balance being Al and inevitable impurities, wherein a flatness change of the aluminum alloy disc blank for a magnetic disc when the aluminum alloy disc blank for a magnetic disc is held in the atmosphere at 50° C. or lower for 336 hours is 2.0 μm or less.

A substrate for a magnetic disk includes a substrate main body having two main surfaces and an outer circumferential edge surface, and a film that is an alloy film containing Ni and P and provided on a surface of the substrate main body. A disk shape of the substrate main body has an outer diameter of 90 mm or more. A thickness T of the substrate that includes film thicknesses of sections of the film provided on the main surfaces is 0.520 mm or less. A total thickness D mm, which is a sum of the film thicknesses of the sections of the film on the main surfaces and the thickness T mm satisfy D≥0.0082/T−0.0015. A surface roughness maximum height Rz of the film provided on the outer circumferential edge surface is smaller than that of the substrate main body at the outer circumferential edge surface.

Provided is a magnetic recording medium having a recording track width of 2 μm or less, including: a recording layer containing a powder of particles containing ε iron oxide, in which a squareness ratio measured in a transport direction is 30% or less, a squareness ratio S1 measured in the transport direction and a squareness ratio S2 measured in a width direction satisfy a relationship S1≥S2, a coercive force is 220 kA/m or greater and 310 kA/m or less, an activation volume is 8000 nm.sup.3 or less, and in a switching field distribution (SFD) curve, a peak ratio X/Y of a main peak height X and a height Y of a sub-peak near zero magnetic field is 3.0 or greater.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a read/write device for a hard-disk memory system. The read/write device includes a fixed structure; a membrane region including a first and a second membrane, which are constrained to the fixed structure, and a central portion, interposed between the first and second membranes; a first and a second piezoelectric actuator, mechanically coupled, respectively, to the first and second membranes; and a read/write head, which is fixed to the central portion of the membrane region. The first and second piezoelectric actuators can be controlled so as to cause corresponding deformations of the first and second membranes, said deformations of the first and second membranes causing corresponding movements of the read/write head with respect to the fixed structure.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a read/write device for a hard-disk memory system. The read/write device includes a fixed structure; a membrane region including a first and a second membrane, which are constrained to the fixed structure, and a central portion, interposed between the first and second membranes; a first and a second piezoelectric actuator, mechanically coupled, respectively, to the first and second membranes; and a read/write head, which is fixed to the central portion of the membrane region. The first and second piezoelectric actuators can be controlled so as to cause corresponding deformations of the first and second membranes, said deformations of the first and second membranes causing corresponding movements of the read/write head with respect to the fixed structure.

A base for a magnetic recording medium, includes an aluminum alloy substrate, and a nickel alloy film provided on at least one principal surface of the aluminum alloy substrate. The nickel alloy film includes Mo in a range of 0.5 wt % to 3 wt %, P in a range of 11 wt % to 15 wt %, and Al in a range of 0.001 wt % to 0.1 wt %.

A base for a magnetic recording medium, includes an aluminum alloy substrate, and a nickel alloy film provided on at least one principal surface of the aluminum alloy substrate. The nickel alloy film includes Mo in a range of 0.5 wt % to 3 wt %, P in a range of 11 wt % to 15 wt %, and Fe in a range of 0.0001 wt % to 0.001 wt %.