Provided is a magnetic recording medium configured to achieve higher density recording. The magnetic recording medium has a tape-like shape, and includes: a base containing polyester as a main constituent; and a magnetic layer provided on the base, including a plurality of magnetic powders, and configured to record a data signal. An average thickness of the magnetic recording medium is 5.6 μm or less. An average thickness of the base is 4.2 μm or less. An average thickness of the magnetic layer is 90 nm or less. An average aspect ratio of the magnetic powders is 1.0 or greater and 3.0 or less. A coercivity in a perpendicular direction is 3000 oersted or less. A rate of a coercivity in a longitudinal direction to the coercivity in the perpendicular direction is 0.8 or less. The magnetic layer includes a lubricant. An entire BET specific surface area of the magnetic recording medium from which the lubricant has been removed is 2.5 m.sup.2/g or greater.

The ferrite powder of the present invention is a ferrite powder containing a plurality of ferrite particles, wherein the ferrite particles each are a single crystal body having an average particle diameter of 1-2,000 nm, and have a polyhedron shape, and wherein the ferrite particles each contain 2.0-10.0 mass % of Sr, and 55.0-70.0 mass % of Fe.

The magnetic tape includes a non-magnetic support; and a magnetic layer including a 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, and an isoelectric point of a surface zeta potential of the magnetic layer is equal to or greater than 5.5.

The magnetic tape includes a non-magnetic support; a non-magnetic layer including a non-magnetic powder and a binding agent on the non-magnetic support; and a magnetic layer including a 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 μm, the magnetic layer has a servo pattern, and an isoelectric point of a surface zeta potential of the magnetic layer is equal to or greater than 5.5.

A magnetic recording medium used on a record/playback device with a minimum recording wavelength or 50 nm or shorter, the magnetic recording medium including a magnetic layer that contains a spinel-type ferrite magnetic powder, the magnetic layer having an average thickness of 85 nm or smaller, and the magnetic layer having a saturation flux density of 1600 Gauss or larger and 2000 Gauss or smaller.

A grain-oriented M-type hexagonal ferrite has the formula MeFe.sub.12O.sub.19, and a dopant effective to provide planar magnetic anisotropy and magnetization in a c-plane, or a cone anisotropy, in the hexagonal crystallographic structure wherein Me is Sr.sup.+, Ba.sup.2+ or Pb.sup.2+, and wherein greater than 30%, preferably greater than 80%, of c-axes of the ferrite grains are aligned perpendicular to the c-plane.

A magnetic recording medium is a magnetic recording medium having a tape-like shape and includes a base substrate and a magnetic layer provided on the base substrate. A plurality of data tracks can be formed in the magnetic layer, a width of a data track is 2900 nm or less, and in a case of defining, as w.sub.max and w.sub.min, a maximum value and a minimum value respectively out of average values of a width of the magnetic recording medium measured under four kinds of environment in which temperature and relative humidity are set to (10° C., 10%), (10° C., 80%), (29° C., 80%), and (45° C., 10%), w.sub.max and w.sub.min satisfy a relation of (w.sub.max−w.sub.min)/w.sub.min≤400 [ppm].

The magnetic tape in which a difference (S.sub.0.1−S.sub.1.6) between a spacing S.sub.0.1 and a spacing S.sub.1.6 obtained after n-hexane cleaning on a surface of the magnetic layer is equal to or less than 32 nm. The S.sub.0.1 is a value obtained as a spacing under a pressing force of 0.1 atm from a relational expression between a pressure and a spacing obtained by performing a spacing measurement on the surface of the magnetic layer by an optical interference method under a pressing force of each of a plurality of different pressures after the n-hexane cleaning, and S.sub.1.6 is a spacing measured on the surface of the magnetic layer by the optical interference method under the pressing force of 1.6 atm after the n-hexane cleaning.

In the magnetic tape, a magnetic tape deformation amount after storage for 3 months each in a predetermined environment is 0.50 μm or less, a rate of a change in the magnetic tape deformation amount with respect to a change in relative humidity is 0.0001 μm/% to 0.0500 μm/%, and a rate of a change in magnetic tape deformation amount with respect to a change in temperature is 0.0010 μm/° C. to 0.1000 μm/° C.

Provided are a magnetic tape comprising a magnetic layer containing a ferromagnetic powder and a binding agent on a non-magnetic support, in which the magnetic layer contains an oxide abrasive, an average particle diameter of the oxide abrasive obtained from a secondary ion image acquired by irradiating a surface of the magnetic layer with a focused ion beam is greater than 0.08 μm and 0.14 μm or smaller, and an absolute value ΔN of a difference between a refractive index Nxy measured with respect to an in-plane direction of the magnetic layer and a refractive index Nz measured with respect to a thickness direction of the magnetic layer is 0.25 to 0.40, and a magnetic recording and reproducing device including the magnetic tape.