Patent ID: 7195827

Claim:
A perpendicular magnetic recording medium comprising: a substrate; a nonmagnetic underlayer formed on the substrate, and containing at least one element selected from the group A consisting of Pt, Pd, Rh, Ag, Au and Ir, and at least one element or compound selected from the group B consisting of C, Ta, Mo, W, Nb, Zr, Hf, V, Mg, Al, Zn, Sn, In, Bi, Pb, Cd, SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , TaC, TiC, TaN, TiN, B 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 , In 2 O 3 and SnO 2 ; and a magnetic layer formed directly on the underlayer, containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co and Ni, and at least one element selected from the group consisting of Pt, Pd, Au and Ir, and containing crystal grains having an L1 0 structure, wherein the medium further comprises a crystal orientation layer between the substrate and the underlayer, and wherein the crystal orientation layer contains Cr and at least one element selected from the group C consisting of Ti, Ni, Co, Cu and Zn.