Manufacturing method of magnetic recording medium and magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus

Abstract

There is provided a manufacturing method of a magnetic recording medium that maintains a high level of perpendicular orientation of a perpendicular magnetic layer and enables to further increase high recording density, prepared such that at least on a non-magnetic substrate, there are laminated a soft magnetic base layer, an orientation control layerthat controls the orientation of the layer immediately thereabove, and a perpendicular magnetic layer with a magnetization easy axis thereof primarily oriented perpendicular to the non-magnetic substrate. The manufacturing method is characterized in that when configuring the perpendicular magnetic layer with two or more magnetic layerstoand crystal-growing each layer so that the crystal grains that constitute the respective magnetic layersto, together with the crystal grains that constitute the orientation control layer, form column-shaped crystals Sto Sin a consecutive manner in the thickness direction, lamination of the orientation control layeris performed while the substrate is being cooled or immediately after the substrate has been cooled.