Sputtering target for production of magnetic recording medium, method for producing magnetic recording medium using same, and magnetic recording medium

A method for producing a magnetic recording medium comprising at least a nonmagnetic undercoat layer, a magnetic layer, and a protective layer laminated sequentially on a nonmagnetic substrate, comprising the step of;

• forming said magnetic layer by RF sputtering of a sputtering target for the magnetic recording medium, and wherein
• said sputtering target for the magnetic recording medium comprises a mixture of a metal and an oxide, and
• a particle diameter of said oxide in the sputtering target is 10 μm or less.

A magnetic recording medium comprising at least a nonmagnetic undercoat layer, a magnetic layer, and a protective layer laminated sequentially on a nonmagnetic substrate, wherein

• the magnetic layer is a granular magnetic layer having a structure in which crystal grains containing Co and having ferromagnetism are surrounded with oxide grain boundaries,
• the magnetic layer has been obtained by RF sputtering of a sputtering target for a magnetic recording medium, the sputtering target comprising a mixture of a metal and an oxide, the oxide having a particle diameter of 10 μm or less, and
• defects attributed to particles of the oxide and measuring 0.05 μm or more are not present on a surface of the magnetic recording medium.