Patent ID: 7879470

Claim:
A recording medium for perpendicular recording applications, the recording medium comprising: a substrate; an overcoat layer; a soft underlayer formed on top of the substrate; an intermediate layer disposed between the soft underlayer and the overcoat; a perpendicular magnetic recording layer disposed between the intermediate layer and the overcoat layer, the perpendicular magnetic recording layer selected to have a coercivity and an axis of magnetic anisotropy substantially perpendicular to the surface thereof; the perpendicular magnetic recording layer comprising a plurality of magnetic grains and a segregant, the segregant comprising a material selected to have a heat of formation greater than about 130 kilocalories per mole and less than about 230 kilocalories per mole and a surface energy less than about 300 milijoules per square meter; and at least one coating layer disposed immediately adjacent to the perpendicular magnetic recording layer between the perpendicular magnetic recording layer and the overcoat layer, the at least one coating layer comprising a material having a surface energy that is greater than a prior adjacent layer.