Patent ID: 7344786

Claim:
A magnetic recording medium comprising a support having provided on the surface of at least one side thereon a smooth coating layer, a non-magnetic layer, and a magnetic layer, wherein the smooth coating layer is provided directly on the surface of the support and the non-magnetic layer is between the magnetic layer and the smooth coating layer, wherein the smooth coating layer has a thickness of from 0.10 to 0.70 μm, a central plane average surface roughness (Ra) of 5 nm or less, and 20 or less per 900 μm 2 of protrusions having a height of 20 nm or more measured by an interatomic force microscope (AFM), wherein the central plane average surface roughness of the support is larger than the central plane average surface roughness of the smooth coating layer, wherein an elution (amount) of the smooth coating layer in a mixed solution of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)/cyclohexanone (1/1) is from 0.0 to 0.4 mg/cm 2 , wherein the non-magnetic layer contains a non-magnetic powder and a binder and has a thickness of from 0.5 to 3.0 μm, wherein the smooth coating layer comprises a coating solution containing a compound having a radiation-curable functional group, and wherein the smooth coating layer is produced by irradiating the radiation-curable functional group of the smooth coating layer.