System, method and apparatus for patterned media with reduced magnetic trench material

A hard disk drive, comprising:

• an enclosure having a magnetic media disk rotatably mounted thereto and an actuator having a head for reading data from and writing data to the magnetic media disk;
• the magnetic media disk further comprising:
• a substrate;
• a plurality of topographic features formed on the substrate and defining trenches therebetween;
• a layer of non-magnetic material formed on the topographic features;
• and
• a layer of magnetic material formed on the layer of non-magnetic material on at least the topographic features to define a recording layer.

A method of forming a bit patterned media on a magnetic media disk, comprising:

• forming topographic features on a substrate and defining trenches therebetween;
• forming a layer of non-magnetic material on the topographic features and on the trenches;
• and
• forming a layer of magnetic material on the layer of non-magnetic material on at least the topographic features to define a recording layer.