Abstract: According to one embodiment, a perpendicular magnetic recording medium including a soft magnetic under layer, a nonmagnetic seed layer consisting of AgGe, a nonmagnetic interlayer made of Ru or an Ru alloy, and a perpendicular magnetic recording layer, laminated on the nonmagnetic substrate is provided. The nonmagnetic seed layer is an layer containing Ag grains having an fcc structure and an amorphous Ge grain boundary, and the Ag grain surface is higher than the Ge grain boundary surface.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, a magnetic recording medium includes a substrate, an auxiliary layer formed on the substrate, and at least one perpendicular magnetic recording layer formed on the auxiliary layer. The perpendicular magnetic recording layer includes a magnetic dot pattern. The perpendicular magnetic recording layer is made of an alloy material containing one element selected from iron and cobalt, and one element selected from platinum and palladium. This alloy material has the L10 structure, and is (001)-oriented. The auxiliary layer includes a dot-like first region covered with the magnetic dot pattern, and a second region not covered with the magnetic dot pattern. The first region is made of one metal selected from (100)-oriented nickel and (100)-oriented iron. The second region contains an oxide of the metal used in the first region.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, a magnetic recording medium includes a substrate, a soft magnetic layer, a multilayered underlayer formed on the soft magnetic layer, and a continuous film type magnetic recording layer formed on the multilayered underlayer. The multilayered underlayer includes a first underlayer made of copper and containing crystal grains having a (100)-oriented, face-centered cubic lattice structure, a second underlayer formed on the first underlayer and made of copper and nitrogen, and a third underlayer formed into islands on the second underlayer. The continuous film type magnetic recording layer contains at least one element selected from Fe and Co and at least one element selected from Pt and Pd, has the L10 structure, and mainly contains (001)-oriented magnetic crystal grains.