Patent ID: 8557408

Claim:
A magnetic stack comprising: a substrate; a first soft magnetic underlayer comprising material selected from the group of CoZrNb, CoZrTa, and combinations thereof, and a second soft magnetic underlayer comprising material selected from the group of FeCoB, FeCrCoB, FeTaC, CoFeZr, CoFeTa, FeCoZrB, FeCoC, FeCoTaZr, FeCrTaC, CoFeCrZr, CoFeCrTa, FeCoCrZrB, FeCoCrC, and FeCoCrTaZr, on the substrate without a spacer layer between the first and second soft magnetic underlayers; and a magnetic recording layer having a growth direction with less than 4° full width half maximum (FWHM) of x-ray diffraction (XRD) rocking curves around the (0002) peaks, wherein the second soft magnetic underlayer is between the first soft magnetic underlayer and the magnetic recording layer and is the soft magnetic underlayer closest to the magnetic recording layer, wherein the magnetic stack includes one or both of: a third soft magnetic underlayer between the substrate and the first soft magnetic underlayer; and at least one of the soft magnetic layers is configured to provide a template for orienting the magnetic recording layer.