Patent ID: 6994923

Claim:
A magnetic recording medium comprising: a substrate; a backing layer which is formed of a soft magnetic material on the substrate; a seed layer which is formed of a non-magnetic material on the backing layer; and a recording layer which is formed adjacently on the seed layer, which includes crystal grains containing a hard magnetic material and a crystal grain boundary containing a segregation component, and which exhibits perpendicular magnetization, wherein: the segregation component has a concentration gradient in a film thickness direction in the recording layer so that the concentration of the segregation component decreases from a boundary surface of the recording layer disposed on a side of the seed layer toward a boundary surface of the recording layer disposed on a side opposite to the seed layer; wherein the segregation component is B, and the seed layer contains B; wherein an average concentration of B in the seed layer is higher than an average concentration of B in the recording layer; and wherein a relationship of B1>B2 holds between a B concentration B1 at the boundary surface of the recording layer disposed on the side of the seed layer and a B concentration B2 at an intermediate position between the boundary surface of the recording layer disposed on the side of the seed layer and the boundary surface of the recording layer disposed on the side opposite to the seed layer.