The magnetic tape includes a non-magnetic support, and a magnetic layer including a ferromagnetic powder. The non-magnetic support is a polyamide support, and a deformation rate ratio of a deformation rate in a width direction to a deformation rate in a longitudinal direction of the magnetic tape, (the deformation rate in the width direction/the deformation rate in the longitudinal direction), is 0.45 or less, the deformation rates each being measured after a load is applied in the longitudinal direction of the magnetic tape for 96 hours.

The present technology provides a tape-shaped magnetic recording medium including a magnetic layer, an underlayer, a base layer, and a back layer. The magnetic recording medium has an average thickness t.sub.T of 5.4 μm or less, when a thermomechanical analysis is performed on the magnetic recording medium in a temperature range of 40° C. to 150° C. at a temperature rise rate of 1° C./minute, a switching temperature for switching from thermal expansion to thermal contraction is 70° C. or more, and a contraction start temperature is 90° C. or more at which a length in a longitudinal direction is shorter than the length at 40° C., and a Poisson's ratio is 0.40 or less.

The magnetic tape includes 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 includes one or more components selected from the group consisting of fatty acid and fatty acid amide, 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 a surface of the magnetic layer at a photoelectron take-off angle of 10 degrees is equal to or greater than 45 atom %, and an absolute value ΔN of a difference between a refractive index Nxy measured regarding an in-plane direction of the magnetic layer and a refractive index Nz measured regarding a thickness direction of the magnetic layer is 0.25 to 0.40.

A magnetic recording medium is a magnetic recording medium having a tape shape and includes a substrate, an underlayer provided on the substrate, and a magnetic layer provided on the underlayer. The magnetic layer has a surface having an uneven shape, a height range ΔH obtained from statistical information of a height of the uneven shape is in a range of 4.00 nm ≤ ΔH ≤ 10.00 nm, and a gradient range ΔA obtained from statistical information of a gradient of the uneven shape is in a range of 2.50 degrees ≤ ΔA.

The magnetic tape includes a non-magnetic support, and a magnetic layer including a ferromagnetic powder. The non-magnetic support is a polyethylene naphthalate support, and a deformation rate ratio of a deformation rate in a width direction to a deformation rate in a longitudinal direction of the magnetic tape, (the deformation rate in the width direction/the deformation rate in the longitudinal direction), is 0.42 or less, the deformation rates each being measured after a load is applied in the longitudinal direction of the magnetic tape for 96 hours.

A hexagonal strontium ferrite powder, in which an average particle size is 10.0 to 25.0 nm, a content of one or more kinds of atom selected from the group consisting of a gallium atom, a scandium atom, an indium atom, and an antimony atom is 1.0 to 15.0 atom % with respect to 100.0 atom % of an iron atom, and a coercivity Hc is greater than 2,000 Oe and smaller than 4.000 Oe. A magnetic recording medium including: a non-magnetic support; and a magnetic layer including a ferromagnetic powder and a binding agent on the non-magnetic support, in which the ferromagnetic powder is the hexagonal strontium ferrite powder. A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus including this magnetic recording medium.

The magnetic tape includes a non-magnetic support, a magnetic layer that includes ferromagnetic powder having an average particle volume of 2,500 nm.sup.3 or less on one surface side of the non-magnetic support, and a back coating layer that includes non-magnetic powder on the other surface side of the non-magnetic support, in which the ferromagnetic powder is ferromagnetic powder selected from the group consisting of hexagonal ferrite powder and ε-iron oxide powder, and a ratio (PSD.sub.5μm-PSDmag/PSD.sub.10μm-PSDbc) of the magnetic layer and the back coating layer is in a range of 0.0050 to 0.20. A magnetic tape cartridge and a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus include the magnetic tape.

The magnetic tape cartridge group includes a plurality of magnetic tape cartridges. Regarding 100 reels of magnetic tape cartridges, in a case where a maximum value of an absolute value of a difference between a servo band spacing obtained before predetermined storage and a servo band spacing obtained after the predetermined storage is defined as A, an arithmetic mean of medium lives calculated by a linear function derived from a value of A obtained for different N and a value of the logarithm of total storage time T of the storage of N cycles is 3 years or longer and 3σ is 1 year or shorter. Medium life: T in a case where A satisfies A=1.5−B. B: a value calculated by multiplying a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of servo band spacings obtained in each of the five environments by ½.

In the magnetic recording and reproducing device, a distal end width of the first magnetic pole in the recording element is substantially the same as a distal end width of the second magnetic pole; the reproducing element width of the reproducing element is equal to or less than 0.8 μm; and in the magnetic recording medium, a number distribution A of equivalent circle diameters of a plurality of bright areas in a binarized image of a secondary electron image obtained by imaging a surface of the magnetic layer with a scanning electron microscope at an acceleration voltage of 5 kV, and a number distribution B of equivalent circle diameters of a plurality of dark areas in a binarized image of a secondary electron image obtained by imaging the surface of the magnetic layer with a scanning electron microscope at an acceleration voltage of 2 kV satisfy predetermined number distribution, respectively.

A servo writer includes a running unit that sends a tape-like magnetic recording medium out from a cartridge, winds up the sent out magnetic recording medium, and runs the magnetic recording medium; an erasing unit that erases a first servo pattern formed in the magnetic recording medium that runs; a head that writes a servo signal in the running magnetic recording medium from which the first servo pattern is erased and forms a second servo pattern; and a control unit that controls the head so that the servo signal is written in at least one period of an accelerated running period and a decelerated running period of the magnetic recording medium, and forms the second servo pattern that does not satisfy a standard in the magnetic recording medium.