Patent ID: 8057927

Claim:
A magnetic recording medium, comprising: a nonmagnetic granular layer that has a granular structure in which a plurality of nonmagnetic grains made of a nonmagnetic material are separated from one another by a Cr oxide; a magnetic granular layer that is formed on the nonmagnetic granular layer and has a granular structure in which a plurality of magnetic grains made of a magnetic material are separated from one another by a nonmagnetic material, an interlayer made of a nonmagnetic material; a soft magnetic underlayer made of a soft magnetic material; and an underlayer that is formed on the soft magnetic underlayer, and is made of a nonmagnetic material having a face-centered cubic lattice crystal structure, and having a surface on which a [1,1,1] plane appears, wherein the nonmagnetic granular layer is formed on the interlayer, and wherein the interlayer is formed on the underlayer.