Patent ID: 7625643

Claim:
A magnetic recording medium including a substrate comprising: a first magnetic layer; a nonmagnetic coupling layer provided on the first magnetic layer; and a second magnetic layer provided on the nonmagnetic coupling layer, wherein the first magnetic layer is disposed closer to the substrate than the second magnetic layer, said first and second magnetic layers being exchange-coupled, and having magnetization directions which are oriented in the same direction in a state where no external magnetic field is applied thereto, wherein a dynamic coercivity Hc 1 ′ of the first magnetic layer and a dynamic coercivity Hc 2 ′ of the second magnetic layer satisfy a relationship Hc 1 ′<Hc 2 ′, and the first magnetic layer switches the magnetization direction thereof before the second magnetic layer in response to a recording magnetic field which switches the magnetization directions of the first and second magnetic layers.