Magnetic recording medium and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a magnetic recording medium includes a substrate, a soft magnetic layer, an underlayer, a magnetic recording layer, and a protective layer, wherein the magnetic recording layer is provided with a pattern including recording portions and non-recording portions, the non-recording portions have a composition that is equal to a composition obtained by demagnetizing the recording portions, the non-recording portions contain at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of vanadium and zirconium and at least one element selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon, boron and oxygen, and the at least one element selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon, boron and oxygen is contained in the non-recording portions at a higher content than the content of the at least one element selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon, boron and oxygen in the recording portions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of manufacturing a magnetic recording medium comprising:
 forming a patterned mask layer and a magnetism-deactivating layer comprising at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of vanadium and zirconium on a magnetic recording layer; and   diffusing the metal element from the magnetism-deactivating layer into the magnetic recording layer through recessed portions of the pattern of the mask layer by ion beam irradiation using a gas comprising at least one second element selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon, boron, and oxygen.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gas comprises at least one of gas selected from the group consisting of N 2 , CH 4 , B 2 H 6 , O 2 , and O 3 . 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the gas further comprises He. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the magnetism-deactivating layer comprises, as a major component, a simple substance, nitride, carbide, oxide, or boride of the at least one metal element or a mixture of any of these materials. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metal element is vanadium. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metal element is zirconium. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second element is nitrogen.