Abstract: A data storage device is disclosed comprising a disk surface comprising a magnetic recording layer comprising a first magnetic material having a first coercivity intermixed with a second magnet material having a second coercivity higher than the first coercivity, and a head comprising a write coil configured to magnetize the magnetic recording layer in order to write data to the disk surface. The data is written to the disk surface by configuring the magnetic recording layer into one of at least three recording states, and the data is read from the disk surface by reading the magnetic recording layer using the head to generate a multi-level read signal, where each level of the read signal corresponds to one of the recording states.