Abstract: Systems and methods for extracting a Curie temperature distribution in a heat assisted magnetic recording medium are provided. One such method involves saturating a magnetic recording medium by causing a laser to direct light on the medium and causing a magnet adjacent to the medium to generate a magnetic field on the medium, causing the magnet to remove the magnetic field on the medium, writing to the medium by causing the laser to direct light on the medium, recording measurements of light reflected from the medium made by a light detector, converting the measurements of reflected light into measurements of remanent thermal magnetization, and extracting the Curie temperature distribution from the measurements of remanent thermal magnetization. One such system involves a processor coupled to a spindle, a magnet, a laser, and a light detector, where the processor is configured to perform this method.